War on black money: Toll collection suspended till Nov 14 midnight

No toll would be charged on national highways till the midnight of November 14, government said on Friday, extending the relief to commuters in the wake of junking of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Earlier on November 9, the government had announced suspension of toll collection on national highways till November 11 midnight. "To ensure smooth traffic movement across all National Highways, the toll suspension has been extended till 14th November midnight," Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. Instructions have been issued to all concessionaires including Build-operate-transfer (BOT), Operate-Maintain-Transfer (OMT) operators and other fee collection agencies about the extension of toll suspension date. The government said that the decision has been taken in order to avoid difficulties that may be faced by commuters.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to tackle corruption and black money, the government had decided to accept such withdrawn notes at toll plazas till November 11 midnight but that led to chaos in the absence of adequate change, causing massive traffic jams. "We reviewed the situation and decided to suspend the collection of fees," the minister has said. When asked about the loss due to non-collection of toll fee, Gadkari has said government will bear it.