No toll for cars, SUVs entering Mumbai from tonight: Eknath Shinde’s big move

The Maharashtra government on Monday announced a complete toll waiver for light motor vehicles at all five toll booths in Mumbai, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, in a move ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls. The toll waiver will come into effect from midnight.
The toll waiver is expected to bring relief to people travelling in and out of Mumbai ahead of Diwali. Commuters, who complained of long waiting times, will now be able to travel without paying tolls at any of the five booths – Dahisar, LBS Road-Mulund, Eastern Express Highway-Mulund, Airoli Creek Bridge and Vashi.
Light motor vehicles are those which are primarily designed for carrying passengers or goods. Vehicles in this category include cars (hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs), jeeps, vans, auto-rickshaws, taxis, delivery vans and small trucks. More than six lakh vehicles cross Mumbai daily, of which 80 per cent of them are light motor vehicles.
Eknath Shinde, who made the announcement during a Cabinet meeting, said the “masterstroke” move would save time, fuel and reduce pollution.
“It was a long pending demand to waive toll at Mumbai’s entry points. Many activists, including I, had approached the court demanding the same. Just like we implemented Laadli Bahin, Laadla Bhai and Laadla farmers, now we have implemented Laadle commuters’ scheme. It is a masterstroke decision,” he said.
The Chief Minister also junked the opposition’s claims that the decision was taken due to the upcoming Assembly polls, saying it was a permanent move.
Lashing out at the Shiv Sena (UBT), Eknath Shinde said, “Those who only collected toll are targeting us now. They have always been ‘Lena bank’ while we are ‘Dena bank’.”
Maharashtra minister Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse said Rs 45 and Rs 75 were charged for light motor vehicles entering any of the five toll booths in Mumbai. He also said 70,000 vehicles were heavy vehicles travelling to and fro Mumbai. Heavy vehicles are categorised by their gross vehicle weight exceeding 7,500 kg and include trucks, trailers, tankers and other goods carriers’ vehicles.
“At the time of entry into Mumbai, there were five toll plazas, including Dahisar toll, Anand Nagar toll, Vaishali, Airoli and Mulund. Rs 45 and Rs 75 were charged at these tolls. This was in effect till 2026. About 3.5 lakh vehicles used to travel up and down. About 70,000 of them were heavy vehicles and 2.80 lakh were light vehicles,” he said.
“Today, the government has decided to exempt light vehicles from toll after 12 midnight. The time that people used to spend in queues will be saved. The government was discussing it for many months and this revolutionary decision has been taken today,” he added.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, under its then minister Nitin Gadkari, has constructed 55 flyovers in Mumbai. Toll booths were first erected at the entrances of the city to recover the cost of these flyovers.
As soon as the construction of the bridges reached its final stage, a tender was floated in 1999 for the construction of toll booths. In 2002, all five toll booths were commissioned. After that, toll collection started at Mumbai’s toll booths.
According to activists, the maintenance money and costs were recovered 10 years ago, but the government continued to collect the toll.
Last year, the Maharashtra government extended the toll tax recovery for three more years till 2027 and it was expecting around Rs 11,000 crore.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and some leaders from the Shiv Sena (both Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions) had been demanding a toll waiver on all Mumbai booths.
Recently, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray also demanded toll waiver on all entry points of Mumbai.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray, whose party came in the news over vandalisation of toll booths in the past, welcomed the Maharashtra government’s decision to waive the toll for light motor vehicles.
“Congratulations to all the citizens living in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area and a big congratulations to my Maharashtra soldiers. We fought hard for the demand for transparency in toll transactions. We were criticised for vandalising the toll booths but now every Mumbaikar can travel toll-free,” he wrote in Marathi.
While Raj Thackeray congratulated the state government for such a step, he hoped that it was not done keeping the upcoming Assembly polls in mind.
On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi called the move a “desperate measure” before the polls.
“Desperate measure just hours before the election code of conduct shows that Mahajhoothi government knows their days are numbered, so try and salvage whatever little they can to save themselves from the public’s wrath. Also because it has been under severe fire for the absolute and total collapse of law and order,” she tweeted.
“Just like Ladki Bahin (Yojana) came at the back of a defeat, this toll decision comes at the back of an impending defeat,” she said.