Govt: No toll if in queue for over three minutes

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 24

Now, motorists will not have to pay toll if made to wait for over three minutes at a barrier. The Public Works Department (PWD) has issued directions to toll plaza operators in this regard.

There are 23 toll barriers on 15 state-owned roads being run under two models — built-operate-transfer (BOT) and operate-maintain (O and M). As per the toll plaza policy, the minimum distance between two barriers should be 20 km.

The operators have been told that queues in all lanes should be cleared within a minute and the number of vehicles in a queue cannot exceed six.

“To save commuters from harassment, officials have been asked to ensure that users don’t pay toll if the waiting period exceeds three minutes. Notice boards will be put up at all toll barriers. A helpline may also be launched,” said PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla.

Official sources said the state would be following the practice adopted by NHAI toll barriers, where an operator on seeing long queues of vehicles has the option of lifting the barrier temporarily. Punjab Traffic Adviser Navdeep K Asija said: “Operators should be able to explain the reason behind keeping commuters waiting.”

Besides, the toll for a two-way trip at any given time is valid up to midnight unlike the toll plazas of the NHAI, where it is valid for 24 hours. “Since the change can’t be incorporated into the existing agreement, the PWD will include the clause in the fresh agreement,” said Singla.