Vehicles without FASTag made to pay double toll fee

As FASTag was made mandatory for vehicles at toll gates from February 15, vehicles without it were forced to pay double the amount for entering FASTag lane at Talapady, Brahmarakootlu and Surathkal on Tuesday.

Motorists demanded exemptions and staged a protest at toll plazas in Hejamady and Sasthana, with a few getting into verbal altercations with toll staff.

Vehicles without the FASTag had to join serpentine queues and pay cash to continue their journey. The toll exemption for local vehicles continued at Surathkal toll plaza, sources told DH.

Navayuga Udupi Tollway Private Limited (NUTPL) had converted all lanes into FASTag lanes in the plazas at Talapady, Hejamady and Sasthana. Toll gates also had counters to help people get instant FASTags. The documents required for the same were vehicle registration certificate and a valid identity card. An estimated 30 per cent of the vehicles still do not have the FASTags, sources added.

Read | Vehicles without FASTag to pay double toll fee from February 16

'Stop illegal collection'

Members of various organisations urged Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to immediately stop the illegal collection of toll at NITK toll plaza on NH 66. Activist Yathish Baikamapdy led a delegation and submitted a memorandum to MP Nalin Kumar on Tuesday, pointing out that two toll gates within a distance of 15-km were causing trouble to residents and self-employed people owning small commercial vehicles in the city.

With the steep increase in fuel prices, people have been struggling to make a living. The memorandum declared that money collected all these years at the illegal toll plaza in Surathkal by the NHAI should be deposited back to the MCC for development of service roads and installing proper streetlights along the NH that passes through the city.

“Dismiss officials who mislead the department and supported the illegal toll plaza at NITK,” the memorandum stated.