Vehicles line up at Kherki Daula toll plaza as payments go digital

A traffic jam stretching for more than a kilometre was witnessed at the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) during the morning peak hours on Tuesday, as all toll plazas in the country switched to digital-only payments through FASTags

A traffic jam stretching for more than a kilometre was witnessed at the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) during the morning peak hours on Tuesday, as all toll plazas in the country switched to digital-only payments through FASTags.

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The concessionaire, Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), deployed toll collectors with hand-held machines to read tags faster. The reason for the heavy jam, said highway and traffic officials, was that a large number of vehicles without the tags had entered designated FASTag lanes, slowing down traffic considerably in the morning. However, the situation normalised later in the day, with slight congestion reported from 5pm to 6.30pm.

To ensure that commuters without tags were able to pay the penalty in minimum time, the toll officials were asked by the police to deploy toll collectors with hand-held machines. The vehicular movement was slow but remained in control, barring the peak hours, said police.

The police said that a tractor-trolley also overturned just ahead of the toll plaza on Tuesday morning, which compounded the situation.

Commuters, meanwhile, said the 25-lane Kherki Daula toll plaza continues to be a bottleneck on the expressway and despite several trial runs and campaigns, the authorities have failed to find solutions. A recent spurt in traffic on the expressway increased the severity of congestion. The number of vehicles crossing the toll has reached 80,000 daily, around 20,000 more than the number a week ago.

Motorists said that it took almost 30 minutes to cross the toll plaza on Tuesday. The worst-affected were the daily commuters and employees working in the industrial townships of Manesar, Dharuhera, and Bhiwadi.

Sumit Kumar, a resident of DLF Phase-2 and a daily commuter, said that despite having a FASTag, he had to wait for more than 20 minutes to cross the toll. “The FASTag lanes are also congested as people without tags enter these lanes and are ready to pay penalty, resulting in congestion,” he said.

Another tag user said that there were no arrangements to ensure smooth movement of the tag holders, despite the system becoming completely digital. “It’s been more than three years that I have been using this stretch and nothing has changed. Peak hours are the most challenging as there is always congestion, even on public holidays. The marshals are rude and do not respond well when we object to other vehicles using the tag lanes,” said Amit Jha, a resident of Sector 10A.

MCEPL officials, however, said that the situation remained under control. A senior official, requesting anonymity, said that congestion was witnessed only during the peak hours as vehicles without tags entered the designated lanes. “There was also a minor accident involving a tractor-trolley, but, overall, the situation was under control. We appeal to people to maintain balance in their tags as our purpose is to have digital compliance and not penalties. Those who haven’t adopted FASTags should get these installed,” the official said.

Highway officials said that many were ready to pay the double penalty but not ready to buy the FASTags.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police, said that the police deployed 100 personnel on both carriageways to manage the traffic movement. “We have deployed two assistant commissioners of police and asked them to monitor the vehicular movements for the first few days. Around 10 FASTags kiosks were set up to ensure commuters who do not have these stickers can get them at the spot and the marshals of the toll operator were guiding them to opt for digital payments instead of paying a penalty,” he said.