No green fee exemption to vehicles with non-Himachal registration numbers

SHIMLA: Local vehicles bearing non-Himachal registration numbers will no longer be given an exemption on green fee levied at four entry points to Shimla town. The green fee was implemented from September 15 last year and an initial exemption was provided to nearly 487 vehicles bearing non-HP registration numbers.
MC councillors, including Anup Vaid and Manoj Kuthiala and others, have been pressing upon the general house of MC to extend the exemption period further.The fee being levied according to vehicle type is Rs 100 for two-wheelers, Rs 200 for cars, Rs 300 for SUVs and Rs 500 for buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles bearing non-HP numbers. MC commissioner Amarjeet Singh said, "After the demand for extension of exemption we had a meeting with company officials operating the four barriers. The officials reasoned that exemption clause is not mentioned in the agreement. Initial bills raised by the company are hefty and the MC cannot carry on such provisions at a time when it is facing resource crunch."
The civic body had initially worked out an alternative arrangement on trial basis for three months with the company being provided a list of vehicles to be allowed exemption on the basis of no-objection certificates issued by ward councillors. Initially a list of 187 vehicles was provided to the company and later 307 more vehicle numbers were added to the list. The contractor had initially raised a bill of Rs 25,700 from September 15 to October 15, then the bill was raised to Rs 1.75 lakh and the last bill was to the tune of Rs 5.82 lakh.