1,500 vehicles sans FASTag pay double toll at busy plaza

In the kiosks set up near Pathangi, nearly 300 new tags were issued. Majority of the vehicles who have not yet switched to the system are private cars, and about 10 per cent are commercial vehicles.

Vehicles without FASTag queue up at Bibinagar toll plaza in Hyderabad on Tuesday

HYDERABAD: Nearly 1,500 vehicle owners had to shell out double the toll amount at Panthangi toll plaza on Tuesday, as FASTag became compulsory for all vehicles from the day, as per the Central government’s order.Panthangi, one of the busiest toll plazas leading to Vijayawada, had to set up additional booths to help vehicles buy FASTag cards. “On an average, we see about 25,000 vehicles every day. While a majority of the vehicle owners have migrated to FASTag, about 10 per cent of the passengers would make cash payments. Today, the double fee rule was enforced on 1,500 vehicles up to 4 pm,” said Sri Reddy, toll plaza in-charge at Panthangi.

a challan issued to a vehicle
without FASTag

In the kiosks set up near Pathangi, nearly 300 new tags were issued. Majority of the vehicles who have not yet switched to the system are private cars, and about 10 per cent are commercial vehicles. A similar situation prevailed at Kamkol toll plaza in Sanagreddy, where long lines of vehicles without the tag had formed. “We have deployed more Marshals to ensure the vehicle flow is smooth. Till now, the public who don’t yet have the tags are also cooperating with us because it is a seamless process. The time taken to process one transaction in the cash lane is the same as the time taken to process 10 transactions in the FASTag lane, which makes it fuel efficient and time efficient,” said an official from the toll plaza.