Supreme Court on December 20 said awarding contract to private firm Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL) to collect toll from vehicles plying on Delhi-Noida DND flyway is unjust, unfair.
The apex court pulled up NOIDA authority for delegating toll collection to private firm NTBCL, says it has resulted in unjust enrichment.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan rejected a plea from the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd, challenging the 2016 ruling by the Allahabad High Court that declared toll collection unlawful. They stated the contract was "unjust, unfair and arbitrary".
The justices criticised the NOIDA authority for delegating toll collection to a firm with no prior experience, leading to what they describe as "unjust enrichment". They concluded that this agreement was invalid, and the financial burden on the public was excessive and without legal basis.
At 11:30 am, NTBCL shares were trading 5% lower at Rs 18.52. The stock's market capitalisation is Rs 345 crore.
Supreme Court upheld Allahabad High Court order, which directed toll collection company not to collect toll from commuters.
On December 20, the apex court rejected the appeal of NTBCL challenging the Allahabad HC's order of scrapping the toll for the DND flyway.
In a more than 100-page judgement in 2016, the Allahabad HC held, "The user fee which is being levied/realised is not supported by the legal provisions relied upon by the Concessionaire (Noida Toll Bridge Company), Infrastructure Leaning and Financial Services (promoter and developer of the project) and the Noida Authority."
It said that the "right to levy and collect user fee from the commuters as conferred upon the Concessionaire under the concession agreement suffers from excessive delegation and is contrary to the provisions the UP Industrial Development Act".
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