Toll tax on M2 motorway increases by 10 per cent

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has revised toll tax rates for the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M2), with the new rates taking effect from today (Tuesday).

According to an official NHA notification, the 10 per cent annual hike is part of the concession agreement signed on April 23, 2014, with Motorway Operations and Rehabilitation Engineering (Private) Limited, a subsidiary of the Frontier Works Organization (FWO).

Under the new rates, Cars, Jeeps, and Taxis (Class 1) will pay Rs 1,330, calculated at Rs 3.72 per km. Wagons (Class 2) will be charged Rs 2,240 (Rs 6.24/km), while Buses will pay Rs 3,130 (Rs 8.73/km).

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For freight vehicles, 2-Axle Trucks (Class 4) will pay Rs 4,460 (Rs 12.45/km), 3-Axle Trucks (Class 5) Rs 5,800 (Rs 16.20/km), and Articulated Trucks (Class 6) Rs 7,460 (Rs 20.83/km).

The agreement, based on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, makes this increase mandatory each year from the second year of operations.

The revised toll rates will stay in effect until August 26, 2026.

Earlier this year in April the National Highway Authority (NHA) had announced a fourth increase in toll tax on national highways and motorways during the last 10 months

The increased applied to several major motorways, including M1, M3, M4, M5, M14, and E35. On the Islamabad-Peshawar M1 motorway, car toll tax was raised from Rs500 to Rs550. Similarly, on the M3 motorway from Lahore to Abdul Hakeem, the toll for cars was increased from Rs700 to Rs800. 

For the M4 motorway connecting Pindi Bhattian, Faisalabad, and Multan, car toll charges were raised from Rs950 to Rs1,050. The toll for cars on the M5 motorway from Multan to Sukkur were increased from Rs1,100 to Rs1,200. On the Dera Ismail Khan-Hakla M14 motorway, car toll charges had gone up from Rs600 to Rs650.