The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Even after announcement, no coupons at any of the toll plazas across NCR
EVEN AS the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced that it would issue government-approved coupons for toll-payment related transactions starting December 8, toll plazas across the capital said they are yet to receive the tokens. However, officials said things have been smooth despite the cash-crunch, with many toll plazas introducing e-payment facility.
According to the NHAI, the tokens are to be used in place of Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20, Rs 10 and Rs 5 denominations.
Staff at the Badarpur toll plaza in southeast Delhi said while they are yet to receive the tokens, they have not faced too many problems. “Traffic has been smooth. Everyone now has cash at their disposal, so no one turns up with old notes or without any money,” said a toll booth operator.
The MCD green tax collectors who had been unofficially issuing small hologrammed redeemable coupons instead of change, did away with the system last week. Toll staff also said there hasn’t been much trouble, as the Centre had put a hold on tax collections till December 2.
Vijay Kaushik, operations head of HCC Infrastructure which handles the Badarpur toll booth, said, “We keep a cash reserve, which lasts us for two to three days. We also pay a private vendor to arrange for change for a fixed commission. So giving customers change is not much of a problem.”
He added, “We have been hearing about the coupons for a while now but they have not yet been given to us by the project coordinator. The swipe machines have helped to some extent. Around 15 to 20 per cent of the daily transactions since December 2 have been e-payments.”
E-payment, however, is posing its own share of problems. Traffic on many of the lanes slowed down by five or more minutes with passwords being punched in repeatedly and cards swiped more than once.
“Extra staff have been deputed to guide fresh recruits on how to operate the swipe machines,” said an official.
Santosh Kumar, a driver with an app-based cab, said, “The toll staff at Badarpur deducted Rs 6,000 instead of Rs 100 early on Tuesday. I was driving from Faridabad to Delhi at 3 am then. I made five trips to the toll, paying Rs 100 each time, to make them return my money but they didn’t. I finally called police on Thursday.”
The sub-inspector who accompanied Kumar to the toll booth said, “It seems like a mistake. The e-machine was calibrated to take Rs 3,000 or Rs 6,000 — which is the amount for a monthly pass. We believe the staff used the wrong machine.”