Calcutta, Oct.24 :    Calcutta, Oct.24:  The government's privatisation drive has reached the toll plaza on Vidyasagar Setu. After a departmental enquiry conducted by the transport department revealed that a number of vehicles was either being allowed 'free' passage or a hefty 'discount', leading to a fall in gate money, the government has decided to hand over the responsibility of collecting toll tax to a private firm. The chosen private company will also have to overhaul the system of toll-collection, which has been found to be faulty and time-consuming by the enquiry. So, the manual system will be replaced by a computerised system. When the bridge was inaugurated in 1992, transport department estimates had pegged the average number of vehicles passing through the bridge gates every day at 75,000, resulting in an approximate revenue generation of Rs 12 lakh. But now, the number of vehicles being taxed is not crossing 20,000 and the government is earning just about Rs 3 lakh per day. A sum of Rs 388 crore was spent to build the bridge and several lakhs go into its maintenance every month. 'It has come to our notice that many vehicles are being allowed to cross the bridge without paying the tax or by paying a pittance. This is directly affecting our earnings. We will not have to worry about all this once the job is handed over to a private firm,'' transport minister Subhas Chakraborty said. The Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC), responsible for maintaining the bridge and collecting toll tax, had suggested that the gates be manned by a private concern. After the findings of the enquiry, the transport department has agreed to the HRBC's privatisation proposal. 'We have invited tenders from private firms all over the country and received a healthy response. We are going through the tenders to arrive at a shortlist. We expect the process of handing over charge to a private firm to be over by the beginning of next year,'' said N.K. Chakraborty, financial adviser, HRBC. According to rules laid by the transport department, the chosen firm will have to pay a monthly fee to the HRBC and bear all expenses for maintenance of the equipment at entry-exit points. It will also have to ensure free flow of vehicles on the bridge, without any congestion at the toll counters, by modernising the toll-collecting system. 'There are many reasons for the fall in expected earnings in toll tax,' said Chakraborty. One that has been identified is the fact that very few trucks take Vidyasagar Setu to enter the city from Howrah. Truck operators argue that they have to travel an additional 10 to 15 km to use the 'second Hooghly bridge' instead of Howrah bridge. 'We are addressing this problem by devising steps to ensure that most goods vehicles use Vidyasagar Setu to cross the Hooghly,'' transport department officials said.