THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSRTC-operated interstate services connecting Bengaluru are likely to get delayed as the management has chosen to ignore FASTag, a prepaid tag that has been made mandatory for all vehicles from December 15. KSRTC has not taken any decision even after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) extended the deadline by 15 days. Toll booths across the state now have FASTag lanes and a few hybrid lanes.
Buses without FASTag stickers will not be allowed to use FASTag lanes, and the hybrid lanes are likely to have long queues, warned the Indian Highways Management Company Limited which collects tolls. Vehicles without the stickers will also have to pay double the toll amount if it enters a FASTag lane.
KSRTC operates over 500 interstate permits. However, the toll will be applicable only for buses plying to Bengaluru via Salem. KSRTC operates 48 schedules to Bengaluru through Mysore and Salem, of which at least half of it is through Salem. It pays Rs 2,000 as toll fees for a multi-axle bus to reach Bengaluru via Salem. Total toll expenditure increases during holiday season as KSRTC operates over 25 additional schedules.
KSRTC operates interstate services to 13 other locations. Though there is a toll point to reach Coimbatore, the buses take a deviation to avoid toll booths. There are four toll plazas on the national highway in Walayar, Paliyekara, Kumbalam-Aroor and Ponnarimangalam. However, KSRTC does not pay toll fees within the state. “We are negotiating with NHAI to exempt KSRTC permanently,” said KSRTC managing director M P Dinesh.
The state government also took a stand against toll collection and decided to stop fee collection across 28 booths in the state.
The toll burden on KSRTC is comparatively lower compared to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, which pays Rs 6 crore every month. “We were the first state transport utility to use FASTag in 2017. We had used the deadline extension to use FASTags in all 4,170 buses,” said an officer with Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.
Lagging behind
Kerala is among the low-growth locations in FASTag transactions. Transactions in the first week of November is yet to cross Rs 1 crore, while Jaipur crossed Rs 22 crore in the same period, according to data released by the Indian Highways Management Company Limited. Nationally, the average number of daily transactions under FASTags have grown from 8.8 lakh in July to 11.2 lakh in November. The average daily collection has grown from Rs 11.2 crore to Rs 19.5 crore during the period.
FASTag employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it. It is affixed on the windscreen of a vehicle and enables one to drive through toll plazas without stopping for cash transactions. It is inter-operable and the same FASTag is operational in 346 toll plazas across national highways.