Attention Mumbaikars. it will be mandatory to pay through FASTag or E-Tag at all toll plazas operated by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) from April 1. If you are not able to pay the user fee through this mode, other methods such as cash, cards and UPI will attract double the toll amount.
The MSRDC in a notification said that the public notice has been issued that it is compulsory to pay toll using FASTag and it has been done to make toll operations more efficient and reduce waiting time at toll posts.
The MSRDC said that the decision has been taken to prevent confusion over the utilisation of FASTag and the decision also aligns with the policies set by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and directives from the road transport and highways ministry.
It should be noted that the NHAI has made the use of FASTag compulsory from February 16, 2021. and now the NHAI collects toll for approximately 45,000 km of national highways and expressways at around 1,000 toll plazas.
The Central government had in 2013 informed the World Bank that due to Fastag, the average wait time at toll plazas was reduced to just 47 seconds from the earlier 714 seconds.
List of tolls plazas that mandate FASTag
The MSRDC said it has taken five entry points to Mumbai – Mulund West, Mulund East, Airoli, Dahisar and Vashi. Here, school buses, light motor vehicles and State Transport buses are exempted from paying any toll tax.
List of affected toll plazas in Mumbai
-Mumbai-Pune Expressway
-Old Mumbai-Pune Highway
-Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway
-Bandra-Worli Sea Link
-Solapur Integrated Road Development Project
-Nagpur Integrated Road Development Project
-Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Integrated Road Development Project
-Katol Bypass
-Chimur-Warora-Vani Highway
Commuters on these roads will have to pay via FASTag to avoid double payment, said the media report.
What Bombay HC said use of FASTag at toll plaza
The Bombay High Court had last week turned down a petition that challenged the mandatory use of FASTag. The PIL submitted that the new mode of payment would be a difficult habit to be picked up by the Indian public, who, the petition claimed, was not equipped to handle it.
While hearing the matter, Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharati Dangre noted that it was neither arbitrary nor violative of the fundamental rights of vehicle owners. Hence, the bench refused to interfere with the policy decision.