33. Amendment to Act 5 of 1977.—

In the Kerala Tolls Act, 1976 (6 of 1977),— (1) in section 2 after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:— "(ca) "Local Authority" means a panchayat at any level constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (13 of 1994) or a municipality constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994);"; (2) after section 3A, the following section shall be inserted namely:— "3AA. Levy of Toll by local authorities.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3 or section 3A, a local authority may levy a toll on every motor vehicle entering a bridge constructed by it on any road or land vested in it utilising wholly or partly its own funds or funds raised by it by loans from financial institutions, and declared open for traffic on or after 1st day of April 2000. (2) The toll under section (1) shall be levied at such rate and for such period as the local authority may declare to be necessary for the recovery of the amounts expended upon such bridge by the local authority or such portion thereof as may be decided by the local authority together with interest and other overhead charges, at such rates as it may fix. (3) The toll leviable under this section shall be collected by the local authority in such manner and in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed. (4) A local authority may take up works on construction of bridges on build-operate-transfer basis by giving concession on collecting tolls to the private investor in such manner as may be prescribed.".