NHAI issues new guidelines for waiting time at toll plazas

Frustratingly long waiting periods at toll plazas on National Highways could be a thing of the past, thanks to the  new guidelines issued by the National Highways Authority of India or NHAI.

• Waiting time to not exceed 10 seconds
• New guidelines to ensure smooth and efficient flow of traffic
• FASTag penetration in NHAI toll plazas has reached 96 percent

 What are the new NHAI guidelines?

The NHAI has issued new guidelines for the waiting time at toll plazas across the entire national Highway network in the country. It states that toll plaza operators should ensure a service time of not more than 10 seconds per car, even during peak hours. The new guidelines promise to ensure smooth flow of traffic at these toll centers, thereby saving precious time for the commuters.

Besides issuing the aforementioned guideline, the NHAI has also instructed toll plazas to paint a yellow line, 100 meters from each lane of the toll booth. This will serve as a threshold point and if the queue of vehicles is more than 100 metres the cars ahead can pass without paying a toll, till the queue comes under the yellow line.

What are the benefits of the NHAI's new guidelines?

The NHAI says that besides the obvious advantage of reduced waiting times, the new guidelines will also instill a further sense of accountability in the operators.

In addition, the NHAI also stated that an increasing number of people are considering FASTag as a means to pay tolls. In fact, the overall FASTag penetration in NHAI toll plazas has reached 96 percent, while at some tolls it is as high as 99 percent.

In keeping with the adoption of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) across the country, the NHAI is also working on developing upcoming toll plazas with a new design that'll efficiently handle projected traffic over the next 10 years.