It will be a 100-metre dash at the toll plazas. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said a yellow line will be drawn at toll plazas, 100 metres from the gate, and if the queue goes past the demarcation, vehicles in front will be allowed to pass without paying.
The move is a part of the measures announced by NHAI to ensure not more than 10 seconds are taken to service vehicles at toll plazas in an effort to reduce waiting time. FasTags, which are read electronically, have made it easier for drivers to pass through toll gates.
“Even then if there is a queue of waiting vehicles of more than 100 metres due to some reason, the vehicles will be allowed to pass without paying toll till the queue comes within 100 meters from the toll booth,” the NHAI said in a press release.
The new set of guidelines would ensure seamless flow of traffic at the toll plazas by not allowing vehicles to queue up more than 100 metres, it added.
Since February 2021, the FasTag penetration at NHAI toll plazas has touched 96 percent on average. All NHAI toll plazas are cashless and FasTags are mandatory.
The NHAI is also planning to design the new toll plazas differently to ensure proper FasTag scanning. At present, some scanners do not work properly and toll operators have to manually scan the tags, adding to the waiting time.
A new toll plaza layout and design as well as the new directive of 100-metre-long queues will help in reducing the waiting time.
