At Khed-Shivapur toll plaza, FASTag gets you no speedy toll service

THE ROUTE OF THE PROBLEM

Those who went compliant with the Union transport ministry-led initiative say that it is of no use, since any and all vehicles are allowed into their lanes, and not even charged the mandated double toll penalty

The Union transport ministry’s ambitious project of FASTag — for direct-from-account electronic toll collection on highways — has not at all had a very smooth journey through the ever-problematic Khed-Shivapur toll plaza on National Highway 48 (NH-48).

Interestingly, controversy is not new to this facility. From lengthy traffic snarls to gross mismanagement and fraudulent transactions — commuters have expressed distress at this toll naka constantly, blaming both the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and contractors Reliance Infra for the mess. Despite a new rule made last year to not charge vehicles from certain areas (like Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad) any toll due to their protests on the condition of the road, they are also still made to shell out the fee on this route.



And now, those who have made the effort to go FASTag-compliant claim that any and all vehicles are allowed into two dedicated lanes kept aside for them, making the entire exercise completely pointless.

This also means that a norm issued in May 2020 to levy double toll on those who do not have FASTag is regularly ignored at the plaza.

While Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had envisaged FASTag to avoid snaking queues at toll nakas, the concept definitely hasn’t worked here. Tag-enabled passengers have questioned their lack of privilege, despite trying their best to follow government instructions.



Mirror visited the toll plaza on Wednesday afternoon and noted that almost every second vehicle in FASTag lanes was without the sticker —and people were paying up in cash. This also led to delays and continuous honking by numerous others stuck in the queue behind.

Pritisha Ahir, a commuter travelling towards Pune, commented to Mirror, “The traffic and queuing up is ever-increasing here as toll plaza authorities have decided to keep a few lanes shut. There is absolutely no use of having FASTag. Wait time is close to 20 minutes at the naka each time. This is a very common scenario for us now.”

Ironically, on May 15, 2020, the Union ministry of road transport and highways had issued a notification, stating that if a vehicle is not fitted with FASTag or does not have a valid or functional FASTag, and it enters a FASTag lane of toll plazas, a double fee applicable to that category of vehicle must be paid. However, that was clearly not an issue here.



Blaming unruly traffic for the lack of norms being followed, Amit Bhatia, general manager of revenue and operations at Reliance Infra, said, “Whenever there is heavy traffic, we don’t ask for double fines as people start creating chaos. Otherwise, the penalty is collected at our end.”

NHAI spokesperson Suhas Chitnis only said, “Collection of double penalty is a must, according to government regulations. I will review the situation on-ground.”



NO TOLL WAIVER, EITHER

The worrisome state of the Khed-Shivapur route only adds to the misery of commuters, for whom the journey seems to be full of obstacles. Those travelling to and from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Satara are supposed to be exempt from paying toll as of February 2020, owing to their agitations against the poor condition of the road.

However, several passengers travelling towards Satara complained that they are illegally charged the fee at Khed-Shivapur toll plaza. One such commuter, 75-year-old Vilas Lele, who travelled to Ratnagiri via Satara in August this year, was a victim of the same, but fought for three months to get back his money. He narrated, “The men at the collection counter were rude and compelled me to pay, which I did in the moment to not lose out on time. When I returned to Pune, I met the district collector and NHAI officials. My issue was then directed to Reliance Infra. After a struggle of three months, I finally received the amount of Rs 95 back.”

Another irate commuter who spoke to Mirror at the plaza on Wednesday, Akash Oswal, added, “When I passed through and asked for the free passage allotted to my vehicle (being registered under MH14), I was denied that. I questioned them as to when they will repair the road in return for the toll I was being charged. I was just told — ‘Tell Mr Ambani to do the job’. This is a frequent route for me and I have paid a hefty servicing bill due to damages caused to my car by the bad road.”

Commenting on the same, Reliance Infra official Bhatia reasoned, “For MH12 and MH14 vehicles, toll is exempt only when they produce a registration certificate.”

You May Also Like to Watch:

Punekars, here are some precautions you can take to avoid falling prey to ATM fraud

01:05