Thrissur: With the re-starting of toll collection at toll plazas across the country on Saturday after demonetization, toll plaza officials at Paliyekkara here have said that all the five lanes on each side had been equipped with swiping machines for credit and debit cards and a lane on both sides had ‘fast tag’, a digital card facility used on vehicles, which would be scanned at the plaza. The response of the Paliyekkara toll plaza officials came after inordinate delays for vehicles to pass through the plaza since Saturday when toll collection was done by swiping cards and the use of the new Rs 2000 note.
A citizens group led by activist James Muttikkal on Sunday submitted a complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking measures to ease the difficulty of the public passing through the toll gates. Chief Operating officer at Paliyekkara Toll Plaza A V Suraj told DC that after demonetization such issues at the toll gates were expected and if the public could give small denomination notes or swiped cards it would help ease the delay at toll gates.
Meanwhile, Puthukkad CI Sudheeran S P said that the best way to alleviate the situation would be by implementing ‘fast tag’ at more gates. But toll plaza officials said that as only 80 to 100 vehicles were using the ‘fast tag’ at present they did not have plans to introduce it in more lanes. They also said that as per the agreement the toll company had with NHAI, toll from a vehicle needed to be collected within 15 seconds at the toll gate but it could not be applicable now. They added that there was no clause in the agreement stating that if there were more than five vehicles in the lanes, a gate needed to be opened for the free passage of vehicles.
