New NHAI Guidelines Aim At Ensuring Toll Plaza Waiting Time Remains Within 10 Seconds Per Vehicle

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued guidelines to ensure service time of not more than 10 seconds per vehicle even during peak hours at the toll plazas on the national highways.

The new guidelines will also ensure seamless flow of traffic at toll plazas by not allowing vehicles to queue up more than 100 metres from the toll booth.

Although at most of the toll plazas, there is no waiting time after mandatory 100 per cent FASTag came into existence. Even if there is a queue of more than 100 metres from the toll booth, the vehicles will be allowed to pass without paying toll till the queue comes within 100 metres.

Since NHAI has successfully transitioned to 100 per cent cashless tolling from the middle of February 2021, the overall FASTag penetration at NHAI toll plazas has reached 96 per cent and stands at 99 per cent at many toll plazas.

Keeping in view the growing electronic toll collection (ETC) penetration in the country, there is an emphasis to have a new design and construct the upcoming toll plazas as per traffic projections for the next 10 years to have an efficient toll collection system.

With social distancing becoming the new normal, more and more commuters are opting to use FASTag as it removes the chances of any direct contact between the drivers and toll operators.