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Toll collection resumes, traffic situation under control

On November 9, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, toll collection on national highways was suspended.

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As toll booths resumed operations from 12 am on Friday, the traffic situation remained relatively smooth around toll booths across the country.

On November 9, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, toll collection on national highways was suspended.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sources said that deploying more staff across toll booths and keeping sufficient cash of lower denominations made collection smoother. Speaking to DNA, PC Grover, Director of National Highways Builders Federation, said that installation of Point Of Sales (POS) machines in almost 90 per cent of the booths made toll collection faster.

"Not everyone was paying Rs 2,000 and seeking change. The toll booths had a bigger manpower and change was readily available. But, yes, we got the feedback that more cash is required," he said.

Reports from Bihar showed that the situation remained smooth on Saturday, with officials making advance preparations to tackle the cash crunch. "There was a slight panic among people but no untoward incident was reported from anywhere," said Prabhat Ranjan Pandey, in-charge of multiple toll plazas in Bihar, including those in Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur and Begusarai districts.

According to MK Pandey, manager of multiple toll plazas on NH 57, at least 8-10 POS machines have been installed at every toll plaza. "We are accepting Rs 2,000 notes, but returning the due change is a bit problematic," said Pandey.

However, the situation in Maharashtra was different. Long queues were seen on all toll plazas, including the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the old highway between the two cities and the Vashi toll booth on the Sion-Panvel highway.

Although the booth operators claimed that adequate arrangements had been made, paucity of change and weekend rush led to long vehicular queues. Traffic police were deployed to clear the roads.

Amin Sheikh, on a day-long trip out of the city, said: "The main concern is that Rs 2,000 note is not being accepted by anyone, including toll collectors. They insisted on Rs 100 note, when I gave a Rs 2,000 note. As I did not have Rs 100 note, I finally offered him a Rs 500 note."

A spokesperson of IRB Infrastructure, which collects tolls from 60 points across the country, said: "We have facilitated credit card and debit card payments at different points and lanes access the county. POS, Paytm and MobiKwik facilities were also arranged."

He said that they would soon install Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), a computerised system integrated with electronic equipment at toll plazas. "It reads radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on the vehicle's windscreens and opens the barrier when a vehicle approaches the plaza by deducting certain amount," said the spokesperson.

Naveen Kumar Gupta, general secretary of All India Transport Congress, said that the traffic was smooth in most places but the actual situation could only be judged on Monday as many private cars were off roads on Saturday.

"Many truckers also did not leave their destinations. We have suggested to the government that instead of collecting tolls through booths, an additional cess an annual permit for vehicles should be put in place," he said.

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