FASTag use up 66% in 1 month, overtakes cash in toll collection
Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:26.12.2019
Toll collection through FASTag has surpassed payments made through cash across the national highway network. While average daily toll collection through FASTag increased by nearly 66% in a month — from ₹26.4 crore in the third week of November (17-23) to nearly ₹44 crore in the third week of December (15-21), daily cash collection came down by 30% during this period — from ₹51crore to ₹35.5 crore.
As more vehicles install FASTags, highway ministry officials are hopeful that the collection will go up further. Close to 1.04 crore tags have been sold so far with an average one lakh added daily. Official data showed that there was a substantial increase in the number of vehicles paying toll through FASTag — from 19.5 lakh a day on December 16 to 24.78 lakh on Tuesday — which is seen as an indication that people have accepted the new mode of paying user fee.
While there are no exact figures on how many vehicles pass through toll plazas and pay the user fee, sources said there could be 60 lakh toll transactions across the NH network in a day. There are about 20 crore registered vehicles across the country and only six crore could be fourwheelers and transport vehicles since nearly 70% of all vehicles are two-wheelers.
Many FASTag glitches remain to be addressed, admit officials
A source said, “Out of this 6 crore, 1.04 crore have got smart tags. A sizeable number of vehicles operates within cities and they may not require a FASTag. Once another 40-50 lakh vehicles get the tag, almost 80-90% of vehicles that come on to NHs will have this facility.”
However, officials admitted that many glitches remained to be addressed, particularly to ensure that topping up the balance for the tag becomes easy and all new users recharge them for regular use rather than just once.
Meanwhile, the PMO, which has been monitoring the progress of toll transaction through FASTags, has asked the road transport ministry to carry out a detailed analysis of the impact of this intervention on waiting time at toll plazas. NHAI is currently monitoring the status of nearly 100 toll plazas and it has also been receiving video feed from around 200 plazas.
Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:26.12.2019
Toll collection through FASTag has surpassed payments made through cash across the national highway network. While average daily toll collection through FASTag increased by nearly 66% in a month — from ₹26.4 crore in the third week of November (17-23) to nearly ₹44 crore in the third week of December (15-21), daily cash collection came down by 30% during this period — from ₹51crore to ₹35.5 crore.
As more vehicles install FASTags, highway ministry officials are hopeful that the collection will go up further. Close to 1.04 crore tags have been sold so far with an average one lakh added daily. Official data showed that there was a substantial increase in the number of vehicles paying toll through FASTag — from 19.5 lakh a day on December 16 to 24.78 lakh on Tuesday — which is seen as an indication that people have accepted the new mode of paying user fee.
While there are no exact figures on how many vehicles pass through toll plazas and pay the user fee, sources said there could be 60 lakh toll transactions across the NH network in a day. There are about 20 crore registered vehicles across the country and only six crore could be fourwheelers and transport vehicles since nearly 70% of all vehicles are two-wheelers.
Many FASTag glitches remain to be addressed, admit officials
A source said, “Out of this 6 crore, 1.04 crore have got smart tags. A sizeable number of vehicles operates within cities and they may not require a FASTag. Once another 40-50 lakh vehicles get the tag, almost 80-90% of vehicles that come on to NHs will have this facility.”
However, officials admitted that many glitches remained to be addressed, particularly to ensure that topping up the balance for the tag becomes easy and all new users recharge them for regular use rather than just once.
Meanwhile, the PMO, which has been monitoring the progress of toll transaction through FASTags, has asked the road transport ministry to carry out a detailed analysis of the impact of this intervention on waiting time at toll plazas. NHAI is currently monitoring the status of nearly 100 toll plazas and it has also been receiving video feed from around 200 plazas.
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