PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Speaker V Sivakolunthu on Friday urged the Union government to exempt the vehicles of people’s representatives, government officials and quasi government officers of the Union territory from paying toll fees under the FASTag mode in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
In a letter to Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for Road Transport and Highways, Sivakolunthu said the Union territory comprises four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, which are embedded in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Puducherry and Karaikal are interlocked by Tamil Nadu while Mahe is in Kerala in between Kozhikode and Kannur districts and Yanam near East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
As such, the people’s representatives and officers need to travel to these regions to discharge their official duties. Besides, as Puducherry is a UT coming under the administrative control of the Union Home Ministry, often people's representatives and officers have to go to New Delhi for which they must travel to Chennai to take a flight.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified that from February 15, the FASTag is mandatory for all vehicles passing the toll gates and as per the notification, members of the Legislative Assembly are exempted from paying toll in their respective states only.
When this comes into effect, members of the Puducherry assembly will find it difficult to travel through Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to reach the outlying regions. Hence, Puducherry ministers, legislators and officials may be exempted from paying toll in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, he said.