Bengaluru’s ORR traffic woes: Levy congestion tax, says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has asked IT firms to introduce a pay-and-park system at their office campuses for employees to solve traffic woes on the city’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) stretch. However, Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has rejected the suggestion and instead asked the authorities to start collecting congestion tax like in other major cities in the world.

Bengaluru’s ORR traffic congestion has been a big concern for IT employees and the public and recently, to solve this problem, a high-level meeting was held between traffic police, several prominent personalities and others, according to a report in Deccan Herald on Saturday (November 15).

What police said

At the meeting, the police suggested that a pay-and-park system should be introduced to discourage employees from bringing their own vehicles.

Also read: Police's new plan to ease ORR traffic problems

However, Shaw rejected this and called for a congestion tax to be levied by the city traffic police.

Sahil Bagla, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East), was quoted as saying in the report as saying, “Mainly in the mornings, I have seen a lot of single drivers on the ORR. So as to mitigate the congestion, we suggested the idea to charge a parking fee on an experimental basis, as some might shift to public transport. They can also do voluntary, non-commercial carpooling. Four or five employees living in the same place can pool in.”

What is congestion tax?

Major cities around the world, such as Singapore, London (United Kingdom), Milan (Italy), New York (US), and Stockholm (Sweden), have introduced a congestion tax. Singapore was the first to start this tax way back in 1975.

A congestion tax is collected from vehicles that enter specific high-traffic roads during peak hours.

Suggestions have come in earlier too to introduce a congestion tax for a vehicle with a single occupant that enters the ORR stretch. There were also reports that the Karnataka government would introduce it. However, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar denied it.

“All those things are false; there is no such tax or anything. Some industrialists have given suggestions for the benefit of Bengaluru’s citizens, but it has not come to my level. Their suggestions will be examined,” Shivakumar was quoted as saying in the media last month.