Soon vehicles having the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) FASTag can cross toll plazas operated by the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) using the same pre-paid cards.
Official sources in TNRDC explained that this will allow smooth movement of FASTag vehicles in its plazas. “This is for the convenience of motorists. The amount debited from the cards would be credited to the TNRDC account everyday at the end of the day,” he explained.
All vehicles would have to get RFID tags. Manual intervention would be reduced.
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The present system of local resident passes and monthly passes for regular users would continue. Such users would also have to get tags. LRP holders’ cards would not be debited.
On the IT corridor, for now, one lane would be an electronic toll collection lane and the rest would be cash and hybrid lanes.
A Memorandum Of Understanding to this effect was signed between the TNRDC and NHAI in Delhi on Monday.
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“We already have put systems in place for FASTag to be used in our plazas. TNRDC currently has 11 plazas on the East Coast Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai and four more would to be added shortly on the Chennai Outer Ring Road (CORR),” he explained.
TNRDC would tie up with banks that provide such tags to vehicles and stalls would be set up at toll plazas to sell these cards.
Over one lakh vehicles use Rajiv Gandhi Salai, around 10,000 on the ECR and Phase I of CORR carries nearly 36,000 daily.
The NHAI is meanwhile in the process of completing works to install equipment to facilitate use of RFID cards in its 42 plazas in the State.