Two out of five city toll plazas will be completely FASTag-enabled with one hybrid lane by March 31. The two toll plazas which will be completely FASTag-enabled are Vashi and Airoli.
Due to space constraints and ongoing Metro works at Dahisar, the other three toll plazas at Mulund, LBS and Dahisar cannot be fully converted into FASTag-ready toll plazas immediately, said Kamlakar Phand, Chief General Manager (toll).
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation(MSRDC) has been appointed as nodal agency to make state toll plazas including those highways which are under Public Works Department(PWD) as FASTag enabled.
The official informed, "The work at Vashi and Airoli toll nakas have been almost completed. The installation work is going on in a gradual manner since city entry points witness huge traffic throughout the day and cannot be kept closed. Therefore the work of FASTag system installation is undertaken in night hours."
Reportedly, the MSRDC had planned to convert five city entry points into FASTag by March 15. However, the plan has flopped and lengthened.
As per Centre’s direction, those vehicles that are without tags are paying double the toll fee amount at electronic toll plazas at National Highways including at state highways such Mumbai Pune expressway starting from February 16.
The intention of making the FASTags mandatory on vehicles is to ensure that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas at highways, as the payment of the fee would be electronically done. FASTag is a tag/sticker pasted on the car’s windscreen.
To communicate with the scanner that is installed at toll plaza, it utilizes RFID technology. When the vehicle passes the toll plaza, the requisite toll fee is automatically deducted from a bank account or a prepaid wallet linked to the FASTag.
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