Highlighting the issue faced at toll plazas and motorway service stations in Pakistan
Being a frequent traveler, recently, I had to travel from M-2 Bhera interchange to Nurpur Thal, and if I remember correctly, there were two toll-collection plazas before the one on the river Jhelum near Sahiwal area. Most of the road is well maintained and easy on the vehicles, with a little rough patch near Shahpur. The patch is in itself very dangerous for travelers, as it could easily damage a vehicle in the night and cause accidents.
The most disappointing observation during the trip was the non-issuance of receipts to vehicles crossing the first two toll stations. The toll was only 30 rupees for a car; however, when the ticket issuer did not hand over the receipt, the toll felt like it had vanished into the air. At both the toll stations/plaza, the collector did not bother to give any evidence of payment, even though we waited and demanded a receipt, and were promptly ignored or delayed. It obviously implied that those would not be submitted for the whole amount. Even if the reason for the non-availability of ticket copies is to believed, it is a matter of grave concern.
The same is true of the retailers at the motorway service stations. The products cost exuberantly more than in normal areas, and the sellers simply do not bother to give receipts for shopped materials. The most common excuse is a dysfunctional machine or computer, and the customer is made to stand and wait in case he demands the payment receipt.
Although the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) are the managing departments of these toll plazas and service stations, which are popular as highly professional departments, these undue abuses continue to occur on a regular basis. All these seemingly negligible derelictions are ultimately causing a heavy toll on the national exchequer. The people of this country, be they public or private, simply don’t like to follow rules & regulations, and they also vehemently follow rules when outside of this country.
“All these seemingly negligible derelictions are ultimately causing a heavy toll on the national exchequer.”
There must be systems of checks and balances in place. The foremost way to control this is to increase the salaries of workers at toll stations and ensure contractors are not forced to pay extra amounts, pushing them to fulfill the costs from the people’s purses. This will discourage corruption in the wake of skyrocketing inflation. Digitizing the payment methods can also help a lot, For example, the same e-tag system that has been implemented on the motorways can be expanded to other national highways for tracking toll payments. It will facilitate and regularize transport tax payments.
And finally, the need is to reform and revitalize the tax collection system. Currently, for the purpose of repayment of debts, increased taxes are being charged indiscriminately through utility bills to cover such other losses in tax collection as mentioned above. If the government focuses on brand improvement in tax collection and implements the taxes paid in all fields of life, common businesses will be encouraged to pay taxes other than the already tax-paying salaried class of the country.
Rehan Rana,
Lahore.
Rhapsody 