New Delhi, Jan 16 (KNN) Due to the traffic pile up at as many as 65 fee plazas across the country, not more than 25 percent "FASTag lanes of Fee Plaza" may be temporarily converted to hybrid lanes, the Highway Ministry has said.
 
The Centre has exempted these select toll plazas with high cash transactions to temporarily allow not more than 25% hybrid lanes accepting both cash and online transactions - for toll collection.
 
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is implementing the electronic toll collection (ETC) program in the country. It pointed about high cash transactions at 65 identified toll plazas.
 
Around 535 toll plazas under NHAI have been equipped with ETC, and barring 65 of these, the remaining toll plazas have to mandatorily convert all lanes barring one in each direction into FASTag lanes January 15 onwards.
 
“Depending on the traffic pile up at these 65 fee plazas, not more than 25 percent "FASTag lanes of Fee Plaza" may be temporarily converted to hybrid lanes,” the highways ministry said in a note.
 
NHAI must ensure that the least possible number of the declared FASTag lanes be converted into the hybrid lanes temporarily and further that at least 75% lanes of these 65 fee plazas remain declared and operational as FASTag lanes in order to incentivize the vehicles carrying FASTags, the note said.
 
Since the transport ministry declared conversion of all lanes at toll plazas on national highways into FASTag lanes in July 2019, toll collection via FASTags has increased to 60%, as compared to less than 20% in July.

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