Communication Minister Obaidul Quader has said people would need to pay toll only for the new road networks that would be constructed in the future, but not for using the existing highways or bridges across the country.
The minister made the statement yesterday in his secretariat office to clarify the confusion regarding the ratification of the Toll Policy 2014 draft which was approved by the cabinet on Monday.
Obaidul said: “People will pay tolls according to the existing system. The government will not impose any toll for the existing roads and highways or bridges across the country. Decision will be made on imposing fresh tolls for the new road networks that will be constructed in future.”
Earlier, after getting the cabinet’s approval, Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan had said the policy was formulated to collect toll from passengers of vehicles moving on regional, national and district highways.
The policy – formulated to collect toll ranging from Tk5 to Tk1,000 – would be applicable to road networks under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), but not to those under the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the cabinet secretary said, adding that the government, however, would determine which roads the tolls would be collected from.
The communication minister said clarification was needed as wrong reports in different newspapers had created confusion.
“The tolls of separate roads, highways and bridges are being collected following several orders or circulars. The authorities concerned have to face problems in this regard. So, the government has prepared a comprehensive and modern toll policy. It would eliminate all controversies in this regard,” Obaidul said.
The bridges that are less than 200 meters length would remain free from tolls under the policy, but toll collection for one year would be applicable for the newly constructed roads that were built replacing ferry ghats, he added.