A total of 13 plazas in the State will continue to have additional cash lanes for one more month. These are part of the 65 plazas that have gotten exemption across the country since they witness very high cash transactions and are unable to manage with only two cash lanes.
The plazas are located at Krishnagiri, Vikravandi, Omalur, Kaniyur, Samayapuram, Palayam, Paranur, Moratandi, Thirumandurai, Kodai, Vaikuntham, Sengurichi and Vijayamangalam. The Krishnagiri plaza witnesses over 30,000 vehicles a day, Palayam, Kaniyur and Omalur plazas see over 25,000 vehicles. All the 13 plazas see over 20,000 vehicles a day.
The Central government had permitted additional cash lanes at plazas for a month till January 15 since radio frequency-based ID card FASTag coverage is still not universal in the State. However, Tamil Nadu has one of the highest coverage of such tags stuck on the front windscreen of vehicles. “In other plazas, non-FASTag vehicles would be charged double if they enter designated lanes for FASTag vehicles,” explained an official of the National Highways Authority of India.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, all the 42 toll plazas on the National Highways witnessed heavy vehicular traffic with toll operators managing the rush by allowing more cash lanes. A cash-back scheme of 2.5% is available on FASTag payments till March 31, for eligible customers.
