About a week after it was supposed to come into effect, the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) on commercial vehicles entering Delhi was finally accepted by the private toll tax collector, which said it will start levying the fee from Friday midnight.
The Supreme Court had on October 12 ordered the concessionaire to collect Rs.700 from light duty vehicles and Rs.1,300 from those with three axles and above for four months starting November 1. The contractor, SMYR Consortium, was supposed to collect the fee at its own cost and hand it over to the Delhi government without any reductions every Friday.
However, the contractor failed to comply with the order citing operational difficulties. One of the nine issues raised by the contractor was about the liability of its staff in case of avoidance by vehicles, leading to a loss of government revenue. However, after a meeting was convened by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), the agencies concerned were able to resolve the issues.
On Friday, the contractor wrote to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, which is the nodal agency for toll tax collection, that it would begin collecting ECC.
“We have, without prejudice to our rights and contentions, convinced our staff to collect the ECC starting from midnight tonight till the matter is resolved by the Supreme Court on November 16,” stated the letter.
The contractor had moved the Apex court on October 27 stating its inability to collect the ECC, and the matter will be heard on November 16.
EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal said it was good news that the contractor had agreed to start collecting the ECC.
“We gave reply to each of the contractor’s queries. They were worried whether if they will be held accountable in case people try to evade the ECC, but we told them the same punishment that applies to those who evade toll tax will apply to the ECC as well,” he said.
With air pollution levels increasing in Delhi, the Supreme Court order aims to curb trucks that transit through the Capital by imposing a green tax. According to officials, only those vehicles that are intended for Delhi will pass through the toll tax entry points if they have to pay an additional fee.
Concessionaire to collect Rs.700 from light duty vehicles and Rs.1,300 from those with three axles and above