Car owners fly into rage at toll gates

Some car owners and drivers created trouble at toll plazas on highways going out of the city when toll tax collection was resumed from Friday midnight.

Only the presence of police could help in getting the situation under control, as some car drivers insisted that they were tendering legal currency and that it should be accepted, or they be allowed to pass.

Most car drivers paid through cards and mobile wallets. Some of them, however, gave `2,000 notes.

Some truck drivers paid the toll through debit cards and most others in cash.

The drivers who gave `2,000 notes held up traffic, as a hold-up of even a couple of minutes results in traffic jams on the highway.

It was only when staff at the toll gates refused to accept the `2,000 notes that the car drivers took out small change or cards.

“Some of the passengers in cars were drunk and entered into arguments with the staff. The local police that was posted at toll plazas did not conduct breathalyser tests so as to avoid traffic jams. As traffic was getting jammed, they were allowed to pass through toll plaza after payment of toll,” said a staffer at the Panthangi toll plaza on the HyderabadVijayawada national highway which is maintained by the GMR Group.

Asked about drunk drivers being allowed on the highway, Choutupall circle inspector Naveen Kumar, “Breathalyser tests are not conducted on every motorist. There could have been passengers who were drunk but if the police sees or even suspects any driver is drunk, the breathalyser test is conducted. On Saturday, no case of drunken driving was booked at toll plazas,” he said.

NHAI Telangana state project director P. Ramesh Reddy said at least 10 e-PoS swipe machines had been supplied to every toll plaza in the state.

“We got reports that some motorists were giving `2,000 notes and demanding change. Traffic jams were eased by the evening as motorists started to pay cash or through cards,” he said.

Mr Sridhar Reddy of GMR toll plaza at Panthangi said though they had arranged for small currency, the problem rose when they ran out of change, “We cannot be giving change to everyone producing higher denomination currency,” he said.

NHAI officials and toll staff at Jadcherla on the highway to Bengaluru and those on the Nagpur and other highways denied that they were allowing some vehicles to pass without paying but many motorists said this was done when the traffic piled up.

“Once the traffic jam was cleared, the toll began to be collected,” said a motorist who passed the toll paza at Jadcherla.