New Delhi: A new set of guidelines has been issued by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in order to ensure minimal waiting time at the toll plazas, service time of not more than 10 seconds per vehicle even at peak hours at the toll plazas on the National Highways.

This new set of guidelines shall establish a seamless flow of traffic at the toll plazas by not allowing vehicles to queue up more than 100 metres. Since most of the toll plazas don’t have a wait time after mandatory 100% FASTag, and even if there is queue of waiting vehicles more than 100 metres due to any reason, the vehicles will be then allowed to pass without paying toll till the queue comes within 100 meters from the toll booth.

For this purpose, a yellow line at a distance of 100 meters from the toll booth will be marked in each toll lane, which will inculcate a further sense of accountability in toll plaza operators. Since NHAI has successfully transitioned to 100% cashless tolling from mid of Feb 2021, the overall FASTag penetration in NHAI Toll Plazas has reached 96 % and many toll plazas have 99% penetration. Keeping in view the growing Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) penetration in the country, a new design has been emphasized to construct the upcoming toll plazas as per traffic projections for the next 10 years and the toll collection system to be ensured economical. NHAI values the time of commuters and is committed to providing them safe, smooth, and seamless journeys on National Highways. As social distancing has become the new norm, commuters are increasingly looking at FASTag as a toll payment option as it nullifies the chances of any human contact between the drivers and the toll operators. The constant growth and adoption of FASTag by the highway users is encouraging and has helped in bring more efficiency in toll operations.