A section of school bus operators have sought relief from paying FASTag charges, as the number of trips they make in a day exceeds the 50-trip limit. The operators say their destinations are near the toll plazas.
FASTag cards, that will ensure hassle-free travel for vehicles on the highways, maintained by the National Highways Authority of India, are causing problems, claim operators.
“We have been facing difficulties for the past several years, regarding payment of the toll fee, at the Chennasamudram toll plaza, en route Vellore. Of a total stretch of 46 km under the maintenance of the toll plaza, our school buses use less than a kilometre. Notwithstanding this, we pay toll charges, as paid by other local vehicles, besides capping the number of trips to 50 a month,” said a bus operator from Walajah.
“Though several petitions have been sent to local authorities, the NHAI and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeking concessional toll fee, the pleas have not evoked a favourable response. For the past several years, we have been paying toll for all buses that we run for our students,” he said.
“After the introduction of FASTag cards, we will be paying nearly ₹2 lakh, every month, for our buses to pass through the toll,” he said, adding that educational institutions run on a “not-for-profit basis”, and cannot be equated with a commercial carrier for levying toll fee.
Other bus operators have also been feeling the pinch. They say that any increase in bus fee will strike a blow to the parents, besides forcing them to look for cheaper and unsafe means of transportation for their children.
There are many schools throughout Tamil Nadu who will be hurt by this “one size fits all” approach of collecting toll, he said. Rural schools will mostly be affected by the FASTag tariffs, and this has to be brought to the notice of the government, the bus operators added.
The toll plaza manager at Chennasamudram said toll charges were fixed by the NHAI. School buses were earlier allowed free trips over and above the fixed number of 50, after intervention of the District Collector and the Regional Transport Officer, he added.
Concessional fee
Moreover, buses from the local side (within 20 km from the toll plazas) are allowed to pay ₹75 for a single trip, as against ₹150/225 a single/two-way trip. Likewise, local cars, with registration numbers TN23/TN73 (Vellore/Ranipet), are allowed to ply at a concessional fee of ₹20 a trip, he said.
He also said that of the 10 lanes, now, four were dedicated cash lanes, for the benefit of the roadusers.
He said that over 60% of roadusers on the stretch have started using FASTag cards, and at least 100-110 people get their FastTags at the special kiosks near the toll plaza.
As per the policy, vehicles carrying agricultural produce from the fields are allowed free passage at the toll plaza, he said.
