Rajasthan Government Ends Exemption To Private Vehicles From Toll Tax On State Highways

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan has revoked the exemption given to private vehicles from toll-tax on state highways, Chief secretary DB Gupta said on Thursday. "The notification for toll tax collection from private vehicles on the state highways will be issued today," Gupta said.

The decision to exempt private vehicles from toll tax on state highways was taken by the Vasundhara Raje government in April last year. The decision has prompted the BJP to launch a scathing attack on the Gehlot government.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, under whose tenure the decision was taken, said that she had stopped toll tax collection from private vehicles keeping in view the public demand and by overturning it, the Congress will hurt the people of the state.

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"On public demand, the BJP government had exempted private vehicles from paying toll-tax on state highways. Now the Congress government is about to change that decision and start toll recovery. This is the difference between the Congress and the BJP. While we work to give relief to the public, the Congress works to hurt," Raje wrote on Twitter.

The Congress government in the state, however, defended the move and said that the decision was taken by the Vasundhra Raje government in view of the Assembly elections. Rajasthan Transport Minister Pratap Singh said that the roads were getting damaged and that’s why the decision was necessary. "The decision of the former government was taken ahead of assembly elections. Roads are getting damaged and it was necessary to take the decision," he said.