Gurugram’s Bandhwari toll plaza to soon get FASTag system

The Bandhwari toll plaza on Gurugram-Faridabad expressway will soon have a smart FASTag-based fees collection system to reduce traffic congestion.

The Bandhwari toll plaza on Gurugram-Faridabad expressway will soon have a smart FASTag-based fees collection system as all procedural formalities to install the radio frequency identification (RFID) system have been cleared, the state PWD department officers aware of the matter said on Thursday.

All procedural formalities to install the RFID [radio frequency identification] system have been cleared. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The proposal has now been sent to the Haryana government, and officials privy to the matter said that it is likely to get the required approval by next month.

At present, the toll is collected at Bandhwari toll plaza in cash and localised tags, which are not linked to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)’s smart FASTag system.

As a result, heavy traffic congestion is witnessed daily, particularly during the peak hours as manual transactions take more time. Presently, nearly 80,000 vehicles cross the toll plaza on this road every day, the department said.

State public works department (PWD) officials said that all procedural issues have been resolved to set up a state-of-the-art RFID system at the plaza . “This project will cost around ₹8 crore and will take us around three months to execute the project once the administrative approval comes from the state government. The installation of equipment will be carried out and a financial entity such as a bank will be given the contract to process these transactions,” said Charandeep Singh, executive engineer, PWD (B&R), Gurugram.

Singh said that around three to four months will be taken to complete this project, and once this becomes operational, traffic jams will reduce considerably as the transaction time will also decrease.

The project of installing FASTag system at the Bandhwari toll plaza has been stuck for the last one year as several objections were raised within the department regarding the proposal, cost of equipment and related issues.

Dheeraj Kumar, a resident of Gwal Pahari, said that during the peak hours there is heavy congestion at the toll plaza. “The congestion will be significantly reduced with the FASTag system,” he said.

As per the NHAI, a vehicle should spend only 10 seconds at a toll plaza while paying the fees.