The Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd. on Tuesday (February 13) lost its appeal at the Supreme Court against the Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Association and Ors, when the Supreme Court bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta dismissed their petition.

The company’s petition came up against a public interest litigation challenging the levy and collection of toll in the name of user fee by company from the commuters for using the eight-lane DND Flyway having stretch of 9.2 km from NOIDA to Delhi across the Yamuna.

In November 2016, the Allahabad High Court had scrapped the toll. The company — a special purpose vehicle promoted by project sponsor IL&FS to develop, construct, operate and maintain DND — had appealed to the Supreme Court for relief but the court had, even then, telling the company that it had not “built a road to the moon”. The court had ruled then that the DND would stay toll-free for now.

This subsequent case has also ended in the company losing. The company’s toll procedure for the short distance was up against the much longer and busier Gurgaon expressway that has been toll-free since 2014. Also, this company’s toll of Rs 28 per car was deemed too high for that length of stretch.

The high court had rule that the company had “recovered all reasonable returns” on its investment.

–         India Legal Bureau