Road Trips will soon become expensive as authorities are all set to make a final announcement for increased toll tax on highways and expressways across the nation. However, the revisions have already been made for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The country’s first access-controlled highway will now charge 18 per cent higher toll tax from users from April 1, officials of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said. A senior MSRDC official said on Tuesday that though the toll increases by six per cent annually, it is implemented cumulatively at 18 per cent after every three years, as laid down in a government notification of August 9, 2004.

The new toll will be Rs 320 for four-wheelers like cars and jeeps instead of the current Rs 270, and Rs 495 for vehicles like mini-bus and tempos instead of the current Rs 420, another official said.

Toll for two-axle trucks will increase to Rs 685 from the current Rs 585. For buses, it will increase to Rs 940 from Rs 797.

Three-axle trucks will be charged Rs 1,630 instead of Rs 1,380 and multi-axle trucks and machinery-vehicles will have to pay Rs 2,165 instead of current Rs 1,835.

Toll would remain the same till 2030 as there would not be any revision after three years in 2026, officials said.

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About 95 km long, the six-lane Mumbai-Pune Expressway was fully operationalized in 2002. Toll is collected at five toll plazas, of which ones at Khalapur and Talegaon are the main ones. Around 1.5 lakh vehicles use the Expressway everyday.

Similarly, all other highways and expressways will now charge an increased toll. The hike will be in the range of 5 per cent to 18 per cent, depending upon various conditions. Road users reacted on Twitter to this move of the government in a negative fashion, saying that the prices of cars and fuels are already high. Increasing the toll tax will further burden road users