Kumbla toll plaza: High Court asks NHAI how it can collect toll without completing the road

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday questioned the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on how it could levy toll at the Kumbla toll plaza when the highway itself remains incomplete.

Hearing a petition challenging toll collection at Kumbla on NH 66, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas asked how tolls could be justified when, by NHAI's own standards, toll collection is linked to the completion of a 60-km stretch, said advocate P E Sajal, counsel for the Action Committee, which includes all political parties except the BJP.

The court's remarks came when the case came up for hearing on Wednesday. Adv Sajal said the action committee on Wednesday pressed for the appointment of a fact-finding officer of the court to inspect the ground situation and submit an independent report on the status of road construction. "When asked for the appointment of an advocate commissioner to bring the facts before the court, NHAI opposed it, saying it was an attempt to delay the outcome of the case," he said. This was countered by the petitioners, who pointed out that toll collection had already commenced and that there was no incentive for the protesters to delay the case.

Accepting this argument, the court asked NHAI what difficulty it faced in allowing the facts to be brought before the court through an independent inspection.
During the hearing, the court pointedly asked NHAI how it could collect user fees when only 39 km of the highway had been completed, while toll rules envisage a 60-km chainage for levy.

NHAI responded that it was collecting toll only for the completed 39-km stretch. This prompted the Action Committee's counsel to ask whether motorists were expected to "pull over after 39 km". The court joined issue, questioning the logic of collecting toll on an incomplete highway and asking why NHAI was opposing a fact-finding exercise when toll collection had already begun.

Since NHAI opposed the request for an advocate commissioner, the court said the matter required a detailed hearing and posted the case for next Wednesday, January 28. Action committee leader Asharaf Mohammed, alias Asharaf Karla, filed the writ petition in August 2025, calling the toll plaza at Kumbla, 20 km from another toll plaza at Talapady on the same stretch.

His legal challenge hinges on Rule 8(2) of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, which mandates that no toll plaza can be established within 60 km of another plaza on the same stretch of highway. While the rule allows relaxation, it requires that reasons be recorded in writing and prior approval be obtained from the competent authority.

Since 2017, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has written to NHAI at least four times, cautioning it against repeatedly invoking this exception and bypassing the 60-km norm.

Despite these warnings, MoRTH itself, through a Gazette notification dated November 4, 2025, authorised NHAI to levy and collect toll at Kumbla for the Talapady–Chengala stretch of NH66. While the notification specifies toll rates for different categories of vehicles, it does not spell out the reasons for permitting a toll plaza 20km from the existing Talapady toll plaza.

On Wednesday, when the case came up before the court, NHAI produced this notification as proof of permission from the Union government. The high court allowed the petitioners to challenge the validity of the notification itself as part of the ongoing writ petition, said Adv Sajal.
NHAI began collecting tolls at the Kumbla plaza on January 12, triggering widespread public anger. On January 13, the Toll Action Committee, led by Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf, launched an indefinite protest against the toll plaza.

On the night of January 14, the second day of the protest, a large crowd vandalised the toll plaza. Several surveillance cameras were damaged, and toll staff abandoned the site. However, RFID readers remain operational, and toll amounts continue to be automatically deducted from vehicles using FASTag. For a one-way trip, Rs 80 is deducted for a car, and if it returns on the same day, another Rs 50 is deducted.  Vehicles proceeding to Karnataka would have to pay another Rs 55 for one way at Talapady, and Rs 80 for a return trip.

Meanwhile, office-bearers of the Toll Action Committee said the protest would continue until toll collection is stopped at Kumbla. The designated toll plaza is at Chalingal, exactly 60km from Talapady. But that place comes in the Chengala-Nileshwar stretch being developed by Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL). That stretch is running behind schedule.