Trial is under way for launching FASTag facility at toll plazas on the East Coast Road (ECR) and on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Old Mahabalipuram Road). Over one lakh vehicles use OMR daily and the ECR sees 10,000 vehicles everyday.

FASTag, an e-payment mode where card readers scan cards pasted on vehicles crossing toll plazas and deduct the fee, has been implemented by the National Highways Authority of India at 48 plazas in the State. These radio frequency-based tags implemented across the country help reduce waiting time at the plazas.

The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), which maintains the ECR and OMR, has tied up with the NHAI to use the tags. “This makes it convenient for motorists to use the same system at all plazas. We have tied up with a bank to sell tags at major plazas. They will do so shortly,” said an official source in TNRDC.

The company is sprucing up the plazas and improving markings and signages. “If it reduces wait timing at the toll plazas during rush hour, it would be great. Mornings are worse. Though removing the plazas would be an even better option,” said Swami Mani, a resident of Thoraipakkam.