LAHORE: The National Logistic Cell management is facing lots of problems in collecting toll tax from motorists, particularly lawyers and politicians, at Kala Shah Kaku Toll Plaza inaugurated by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Feb 3 after winding up the Ravi Toll Plaza.
Officials told Dawn on Sunday that the inadequate administrative and logistic arrangements made by the contractor were also causing problems for the staff in collecting tax from commuters."Although we have made the new toll plaza functional, motorists, mainly lawyers, are giving a tough time to the staff deputed for getting toll tax," NLC official Gulzar Hussain Shah told Dawn.
He said most of the politicians passing through the toll plaza also refused to pay the tax.
He said the lawyers' community had also dragged the contractor and the NLC management in a civil suit, challenging the establishment of the toll plaza at Kala Shah Kaku.
He said the shifting of the Ravi Toll Plaza to Kala Shah Kaku had inflicted a heavy financial loss to the contractor because of diversion of various roads from a stretch of Ravi bridge to Kala Shah Kaku.
"Previously the daily revenue at Ravi Toll Plaza was around Rs1.5 million which has reduced to Rs1 million. The drastic cut in the revenue and denial of toll tax by certain groups has disappointed the contractor. The situation has forced the contractor to avoid making further investment in ensuring sufficient logistic and administrative arrangements," the official said.
He said the Ravi toll plaza was shifted in haste without completing the required arrangements which was causing difficulties for the authorities concerned.The official sought government's help in convincing the lawyers and politicians to pay the tax regularly at the newly-established toll plaza.
