The plan to equip all Mumbai entry point toll plazas with FASTag has been delayed amid the coronavirus outbreak confirmed a senior official, who did not wish not be be named from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Authority (MSRDC).
The official explained, "The radio frequency identification (RFID)-based FASTags equipments, mainly the sensor machines, are bought from Hong Kong, since it's asia's biggest hub where such equipments are easily available. However, due to the cornavirus outbreak in China, the delivery of the consignment has been delayed."
As per the previous plan, all the remaining five city toll plazas were to be enabled with FASTag in the second week of March. However, due to the delay in delivery of equipments, the plan has been pushed ahead, said the official.
Reportedly, Bandra Worli Sea Link (BSWL) was FASTag-enabled in January 25, becoming the first toll bridge in the city to offer digital toll payment facility.
There are 70 toll plazas in the state, of which 40 are controlled by MSRDC and another 30 by the PWD. In the city, there are five toll plazas besides BSWL. MSRDC has been made the nodal agency and it is equipping toll plazas with FASTag that are under PWD as well.
Besides this, the official informed that to enable all state roads with FASTag will take time. He stated, "Several toll plazas in the state are located in interior parts, which do not have any facility like having a small office like the Mumbai entry points. First a proper small office needs to be set up. Moreover, of the 70 toll plazas in the state, the tenure of a few toll plazas is about to expire in the near future. Therefore, at such toll roads, FASTag is not needed."
