The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has requested the six State Transport Corporations (STC) to adopt radio frequency-based FASTag ID cards for their buses.
In a letter to the State Transport Department, it said that FASTags have been made mandatory by the Government of India and that monthly passes cannot be used to cross plazas. It said that NH Fee Rules, stipulated by the Government of India, stated that there was a provision to make 50 journeys a month.
Sources in the NHAI said that, however, with the implementation of FASTags, where the toll due is automatically deducted by the system, monthly passes cannot be provided to these commercial vehicles.
Pending cases
“Over the past several years, many toll operators of the NHAI have raised the issue of non-payment of fee for additional trips made by the STCs. The amount runs to over ₹50 crore,” the official explained. There are also a couple of cases that are pending in the court.
A senior official of the Transport Department said that after the introduction of FASTags, the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), whose number of trips are very limited, had already migrated to FASTags. However, the issue of the monthly concession pertains to the six State Transport Corporations (STCs) of Villupuram, Coimbatore, Salem, Kumbakonam, Madurai, and Tirunelveli. All the six STCs have gone to court citing that the new rules of the NHAI are not acceptable, the official pointed out.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has written a letter to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, requesting the Central government to allow the STC buses to continue with the monthly concession passes for multiple trips, official sources said.
