Pune: Collection of Vehicle Entry Fee by Cantonment Boards stopped by Defence Ministry

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stopped the collection of Vehicle Entry Fee (VEF) by the Cantonment Boards.

In a notification, the Defence Ministry said, "It is observed that collection of Vehicle Entry Fee by Cantonment Boards installing barricades/ nakas/ collection kiosks does not conform to the Govt's initiative towards smooth movement of goods and traffic, and impedes the efforts towards ease of living and ease of doing business."

"It has, therefore, been decided that collection of Vehicle Entry Fee by Cantonment Boards be stopped forthwith. The mechanism for seeking proportionate share from the State Government agency /municipality out of any such similar fees being imposed by them on entry of vehicles centrally may be considered suitably," the notification added.

"It is requested to issue necessary instructions to Cantonment Boards to discontinue the collection of Vehicle Entry Fees forthwith and compliance report be sent to the Ministry on immediate basis”, it further added.

Meanwhile, the VEF has been stopped from Sunday onwards in Pune's Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) and Pune Cantonment.

Taking to Twitter, Shivajinagar MLA Siddharth Shirole said citizens of Pune have for long been paying additional fees even when travelling within the city limits. "I hope @Olacabs, @UberINSupport and other taxi service providers and aggregators update the same in their back end immediately," he added.