HYDERABAD/NALGONDA: Unwary motorists who didn’t have FASTags were taken by surprise on Sunday, as they had to wait in line at toll plazas and watch their counterparts with the RFID technology drive by. Cash payments were allowed on just a few lanes.
This was the situation at Pantangi, Korlapahad on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway, Madgulapally toll plaza on the Addanki-Narketpally highway, and the Gudur plaza on the Hyderabad-Warangal highway. Of the 16 counters at the Pantangi toll plaza, only six received payments in cash.
This was because the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Sunday started Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) through FASTags in a bid to save fuel and time, besides reducing pollution and ensuring seamless movement of traffic.
At the Madugulapally toll plaza, however, the RFID-scanning machine did not work, and officials collected payments in cash from all motorists.
Employees at the Pantangi toll plaza said that of the 20,000-25,000 vehicles that drive through every day, only about 40 per cent have FASTags. “We have opened counters to issue FASTags, and the Choutuppal police provided security at the Panthangi toll plaza and helped control traffic,” an official said.
Despite the publicity drives and sale of FASTags at various places across the state, just 38-40 per cent of vehicles in Telangana have the technology for electronic payment.According to officials, employees of all 17 toll plazas in Telangana have been asked to leave at least one lane open for motorists who pay by cash.
“The implementation of the FASTag drive has begun, but cash lanes will be open for the convenience of those who don’t have FASTags yet. They won’t have to pay any extra fee until January 15. However, after that, cash-users who enter TASTag lanes will have to pay double the amount,” noted an official from NHAI.
Meanwhile, with traffic congestion persisting on Sunday, GMR, which operates the Pantangi toll plaza, decided to leave three lanes on either side, towards and from Vijayawada, open for cash transactions.
This step was taken after nearly a kilometer-long line of traffic was noticed due to the transition in the payment systems. It is estimated that 40 per cent of commuters have installed FASTags on their vehicles. Toll plazas like Gudur have seen merely 27 per cent of commuters using FASTags.
“Before the deadline of December 1, merely 10-12 per cent of car users had FASTags. Now, that figure has already jumped to 38-40 percent, in just 30 days, which is remarkable. We expect a hike of 10-12 per cent more in the next 15 days, which will ensure 50 per cent of users are using FASTags,” said NHAI project director K Srinivas.
