Shillong, Jan. 6: The continued existence of toll-collection booths along the highways in Meghalaya could tell on the electoral prospects of the ruling coalition in the Khasi and Jaintia hills.

Farmers and traders who have been fleeced at these booths, derisively called “loot gates”, say the F.A. Khonglam government will have to pay the price for allegedly allowing the business of “legalised extortion” to thrive.

As elections draw nearer, most political parties have begun talking about the need to develop the trade and agriculture sector. However, some of the prospective election candidates are those very district council members who allegedly started the trend of making money out of tollgates.

“We will not allow the politicians to get away this time. They cannot fool us by promising to frame stringent rules,” a farmer said.

It is alleged that most tollgates have been set up without obtaining permission from the ministry of surface transport. The level of extortion is said to be the highest at the tollgates that dot the Guwahati-Shillong and Shillong-Jowai roads.

A trader based in East Khasi Hills district said several crores of rupees were being illegally collected across the state each day.

“Each vehicle has to pay Rs 150 at every gate. There are 15 such gates in our district and over 400 trucks cross these gates everyday. So, one can imagine the amount of money that is being collected,” he said.

The district administration had recently dismantled 13 illegal tollgates, but the Shillong bench of the Gauhati High Court stayed the drive in response to a petition filed by the district council.

Sources in the administration declined comment on the court order, but defended the drive that had been launched against illegal tollgates. “Though the district council has legal sanction to collect taxes within their areas of jurisdiction, there cannot be any duplication of the process,” a senior official said.

What the people have objections to is collection of toll at different places by the same authority and additionally by the syiems and local organisations. The outcome of the so-called “multiple collection of tax” is an increase in the prices of various commodities.

According to statistics available with the district administration, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council has set up three forest check-gates in the same district.

Various associations have threatened to take to the streets to highlight the illegal existence of multiple tollgates. The Traders and Farmers’ Association, the Meghalaya Chamber of Commerce and the Barabazar Merchants and Shopkeepers’ Association have complained about the “menace” to the government several times.