(This story originally appeared in on Feb 03, 2018)

NEW DELHI: On the back of a Madras high court order asking the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to slash toll charges by half at a toll plaza on the Madurai-Virudhunagar stretch due to poor maintenance, NHAI has asked its officials to ensure that all tolled stretches across the country are maintained properly. Toll charges will be halved in case of poor maintenance, it has warned them.“We respect the court order and take it in the right spirit. I have asked NHAI not to challenge the order. We propose to put a protocol for assessing maintenance of roads every year. This will bring accountability. NHAI is issuing an administrative order,” Union road transport and highways secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik told TOI.NHAI officials confirmed that they have issued an order advising officials in states to ensure “preventive maintenance” to avoid reduction in toll charge.Sources said this is one of the rare occasions when NHAI has decided not to challenge an order in its bid to send a message to concessionaires and highway operators that people pay toll for good service and have a right to get relief if the service is deficient. “NHAI has taken the decision for road users rather than taking care of contractors,” said an official.Earlier, in September 2015, NHAI had rolled back the toll hike on the Delhi-Jaipur stretch of NH-8 after TOI exposed how the toll was being hiked on the potholed Gurgaon-Jaipur highway stretch in violation of the Supreme Court ’s observation that toll should not be charged at all on poorly maintained roads.Taking up the case of road users, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court recently passed an interim order saying that the 100% toll charge can be restored at the Kappalur toll plaza only after the 50 km-stretch, maintained in a very poor condition, is repaired and a report submitted to the court.