Commencement of toll collection. 17.2.1 The Concessionaire shall commence collecting the Tolls at the relevant Interchanges in respect of the Project Highway Section from the Project Highway Section Service Commencement Date, from the Day immediately following the Day of issuance of the relevant Project Highway Section Completion Certificate and continue such collection until the Trigger Date, based on the Toll Structure set out in Schedule P (Toll Notification Structure).
17.2.2 At least thirty (30) days prior to the Project Highway Section Completion Date the Concessionaire shall provide a copy of a toll operations manual (the Toll Operations Manual) for the review and approval of Independent Engineer and the Authority. If upon review of the Toll Operations Manual, Independent Engineer and/or the Authority determines that the procedures set forth therein require amendments, the Concessionaire shall, at its sole cost and expense, incorporate such changes as are required in the Toll Operations Manual and undertake periodic review and revision of the Toll Operations Manual as instructed by Authority and the Independent Engineer.
17.2.3 The Authority hereby grants the right and authority to the Concessionaire to commence Tolling at the Project Highway, based on the Toll Notification Structure set out in Schedule P (Toll Notification Structure) upon issuance of the Project Highway Section Completion Certificate.
17.2.4 The Concessionaire shall procure all the Concessionaire Permits, with the facilitation of the Authority, to enable the Concessionaire to commence Toll collection operations at the Interchanges, on the prior to the Project Highway Section Completion Date.
17.2.5 In accordance with the NHA License Agreement, NHA and the Concessionaire shall be entitled to collect and generate toll revenue from the Interchanges in a manner as clearly described in Schedule V (Operations and Maintenance of the Portion of the CPEC Route).
17.2.6 The Concessionaire shall commence commercial operations at the Project Highway on the Project Highway Section Completion Date based on the Toll Structure set out in Schedule P (Toll Notification Structure), and continue such collection until the Toll Collection End Date.
17.2.7 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary all Toll Revenues shall be deposited in the Escrow Account and shall be utilized in accordance with the Escrow Agreement.
Commencement of toll collection. In BOT-Annuity projects, the Authority was entitled to collect toll based on the toll notification issued by the GOI. It would therefore become imperative that to avoid revenue loss, the toll collection should start immediately after the project completion. The Authority issued (April 2003) a circular to all PIUs prescribing the procedure for getting toll notification issued by GOI. As per this circular, the concerned unit was to initiate preparations at least 150 days before the anticipated date of completion of project so that there was no delay in commencement of toll collection. Audit, however, noticed that in respect of all the four annuity projects test-checked, there were delays in commencement of toll collection due to delay in obtaining toll notification and synchronisation of two completed stretches, resulting in revenue loss of Rs.23.89 crore as detailed in Annexure-4. The Authority stated that in Tambaram-Tindivanam project, delay in issue of toll notification was due to delay in completion of punch-list items and protest from local public over toll collection. The reply is not tenable as non-completion of punch-list items would not come in the way of commencement of toll collection and the delay was mainly due to failure in taking timely action. For Tuni-Anakapalli project, the Authority stated that the delay in submission of toll fee notification was due to change in overall plan of toll plaza location and the length covered in each plaza. The reply is not tenable as delay of over four months in revision of overall plan was not justified. For Palsit-Dankuni project, the Authority stated that the work of improvement of 2.899 Km. was given to a different contractor which delayed the completion of the project. The reply is not tenable as the delay was due to lack of planning in synchronising the completion of a very small stretch. As regards Panagarh-Palsit, the Authority stated that for tolling, four laning only is not sufficient but the project should be substantially completed and safety measures should be in place. The reply is not tenable because the IC had given the provisional completion certificate in June 2005 after being satisfied that the road was substantially complete and safe for the road users. Hence, the delay in toll collection beyond June 2005 on account of safety and substantial completion was not justified.
