“If a toll operator overcharges, do what (Arvind) Kejriwal asks you to do. Do a sting, record and send it to the authorities,” says Virendra Mhaiskar, Chairman and Managing Director, IRB Infrastructure. He was reacting to road operators being referred to as “toll mafia”. In the wake of vandalism at toll booths with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena asking users not to pay toll charges, Mhaiskar said operators had become victims of “competitive populism”. Politicians back road investors only till a road is completed; when the investors start collecting toll, they back off, Mhaiskar tells Business Line in an interview. Edited excerpts:

In the wake of what is happening in Maharashtra, has the risk perception in the road business changed?

Yes, the road business is becoming challenging by the day. Once the investment is done, there is very little hand-holding and support from the political masters, which is unfortunate. But that can’t be the way to conduct public-private partnerships, as once you award a project, you give us the right to collect toll.

Can you cite examples of a party’s political stance changing on tolls?

I won’t single out a political party. Many shy away and walk into a shell and do not support the investment that has gone into it. This has to change. If the political masters believe that it is a poll plank , then I would like to throw in some numbers. Our population is 125 crore. There are three crore car owners, of which a large segment doesn’t vote. Maharashtra’s population was 11.4 crore in 2012, with 29 lakh registered cars. So, who are we fighting for?

There is a toll booth every 20 km or so. One too many?

That is correct, particularly in Maharashtra. We agree that two-lane roads should not be tolled. We had articulated this view to NHAI when they were contemplating tolls on two-lane roads. If the target is to save a vehicle’s operating costs, the Government should not levy toll. But when the road needs to be upgraded to four-lane or six-lane, they can be tolled and private investment can be brought in. In Maharashtra, tolls are collected on many two-lane roads and there are cases of toll being charged on bridges, too. That has increased toll density significantly, which is a concern. If the issue is to be addressed, the Government can buy back the project and bring toll density down. The second issue is that you can’t have people taking law into their own hands or lawmakers not supporting the payment of toll. Because, when you sign a concession agreement with a contractor, you give it a sovereign flavour. Once you have done that, you have to back it.

Is buying back a project part of the agreement?

Buying back the project to make it toll-free is part of a concession agreement. The Government can do that through a political force majeure clause.

More truck owners, rather than car owners, are resisting tolls, aren’t they?

We see political bodies targeting car-owners by asking them to stop paying toll. As for truck owners, the toll gets divided over the freight moved on a per unit basis and gets passed on to customers. As far as car-owners are concerned, they are paying toll for using a four-lane or a six-lane road, which is a part of saving the vehicle operating cost.

What about complaints of long waits at toll plazas?

The waiting time issue can be solved by having automated toll collection. But, the Government needs to make its intent clear by communicating to people that use of such roads has to be paid. There is a perception that local mafia is involved in toll collection and overcharges. If that is the case, then do what Kejriwal says — do a sting!

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