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Fastag effectiveness in question as long delays reported at toll plaza
On March 15, 2021, it will be one month since the Fastag electronic payment system was made mandatory at toll plazas across the country
On March 15, 2021, it will be one month since the Fastag electronic payment system was made mandatory at toll plazas across the country.
Since it was a long weekend, the Khed Shivapur toll plaza saw a heavy rush on Thursday as it was a holiday due to Mahashivratri.
Most of the people have made a four-day holiday plan and even on Friday, there were long queues of vehicles seen at the toll plaza.
Unfortunately, the public had to suffer frustration on Thursday morning, as only half of the counters were open at the Toll Naka as there were no operators at half of the counters.
Vivek Velankar, president of Sajag Nagarik Manch said, “As there was a heavy rush of vehicles to go towards Satara from Pune, there should have been better management at the toll plaza. However, the opposite was seen, and complete mismanagement of the toll booth administration. There were operators at only half of the counters and the remaining counter lanes were closed on Thursday morning, due to which long queues of vehicles were there. The Central government has made the Fastag system for speedy movement at toll nakas but due to this mismanagement public had to suffer,”
On Friday, there were operators at all counters, but compared to Thursday there was a lesser rush. However, the rush and long queues return on weekends. Commuters have demanded better efficiency in service.
Tushar Jawalkar a traveller said, “I have Fastag installed in my vehicle but if the toll booth management is not proper and we have to wait for 10 to 15 minutes in the queue then it needs to be changed. Today it took us 10 minutes to pass through the toll naka.”
Suhas Chitnis, Pune project director of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said, “We have received the complaint of having fewer operators on Thursday morning. Accordingly, a notice has been given to the toll administration and a clarification has been sought.”
