SDMC likely to extend toll plaza contract

A week after the Supreme Court granted an early exit to SMYR Consortium LLP, the toll contractor at 124 entry points in Delhi, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation may have to extend the contract “for a few weeks” if it fails to find a new concessionaire by February 1.

SMYR had cited lack of revenue and reduced traffic volume as reasons for its early pullout.

“We are hurrying to get new contractor before February 1. Within four days of Supreme Court’s order regarding SMYR’s early exit (on January 8), we floated a new tender. If we don’t get a third party then we might request SMYR to continue for a few more weeks,” Radhey Shyam Sharma, chairman of the SDMC standing committee, told this newspaper.

The new tender issued on January 12 quotes a reserve price of Rs 441 crore for 40 weeks. An SMYR representative sounded cautious on extending its services beyond February 1. “There are various stakeholders (who will have to take a decision) before we reject or accept the request. After deliberation, we will take a decision,” the representative told this newspaper.

SMYR started its operation in May 2015 with a three-year contract with the SDMC, a nodal body for toll collection.

Differences between the SDMC and SMYR cropped up when the Supreme Court in October ordered the latter to collect green cess, besides the corporation tax, from commercial vehicles entering Delhi: Rs700 from light commercial vehicles and Rs1,300 from trucks with three-axles and over. Later in December, the top court doubled the green levy, which in turn reduced the traffic volume by 40-50 per cent, claimed the SMYR official.So far, the contractor has collected over Rs 75 crore as green cess, sources said.