Gurgaon: Non-functional tag readers at Kherki toll hassle commuters

Commuters said that despite separate lines for smart tag users, there is no segregation of vehicles at the toll

Residents of up and coming sectors near Kherki Daula toll plaza said they are facing problems crossing the toll at peak commuting hours, as the tag readers are not functional.

Commuters said they are unable to avail of Radio Frequency Identification tags at the Kherki toll. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

A resident on the way for the medical examination of his wife who is in the last trimester of her pregnancy, had to wait for half-an-hour on Wednesday morning.

Although all the lanes are equipped with smart tag readers, commuters are stuck in long queues every day as the staff enter their details manually. Commuters passing through the Kherki Daula toll plaza are entitled to using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, but allege that they are unable to avail of it. Instead, they said they have to spend more than half-an-hour in queue before crossing the toll.

Ambrish Awasthi, a resident of Orris Carnation, Sector 85, was stuck on Wednesday morning with his pregnant wife. “I am worried now as I need to take my wife for a check-up and there are just days to go for her delivery. This is our first child and I am super excited, but at same time concerned as the traffic situation is getting worse by the day.”

“I can’t even take my wife to a relative’s place because of the traffic situation. When I complained to a traffic officer, he abused me and dared me to approach the government. I wasted another 10 minutes arguing fruitlessly with him. Today, I felt helpless and reached office with a heavy heart,” Awasthi said.

Despite dedicated lines for smart tag users, commuters complain that there is no segregation of vehicles by traffic marshals on the toll.

However, the Millennium City Expressway Limited (MCEPL), which operates the toll plaza, said they started a survey since Tuesday enabling monitoring of registration numbers of vehicles manually.

“We have asked our toll operators to enter the registration number manually in order to get the exact data of the numbers of vehicles passing through the toll every day. The survey will help us arrive at an estimate on how many vehicles use the toll and how many times the same vehicles pass through,” said T Raju, senior manager, MCEPL.

Read I Gurgaon: Kherki toll shifting hits fresh hurdle

“Since Monday, operations at the toll plaza have slowed down. Despite long queues, the staff at the booths do not hustle, and instead, take a lot of time to enter the details of a vehicle. It seems they have hired trainees,” said Deepak Bansal, a resident of Monsoon Breeze, Sector 78.

The residents alleged that the vehicles with no smart tags and the ones with tags often get mixed up and end up in the same lane. This leads to severe congestion and long snarls.

“Crossing the toll in the evening is a major problem these days, as it takes more than half-an-hour. When we complain to the staff about it, they get aggressive,” said Shalini Baweja, an industrialist who travels from Sector 5 IMT Manesar in Sector 15 everyday.