The central government has certainly taken important steps to provide the countrymen with the facility of uninterrupted travel on the highway, but complete freedom from the hassles of toll plazas will be achieved only then When state governments also agree to link themselves with the Centre’s annual toll pass policy.
Since, the scheme of annual toll pass for private vehicles starting from August 15 by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will be applicable only on national highways and expressways Therefore, the Centre has suggested to the states to make this facility available on state highways and expressways under the state governments and some states have also given in-principle consent.
Recently, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that from August 15, traffic will start on national highways with Fastag based annual toll pass. An annual pass of Rs 3,000 will allow 200 trips. The government claims that this will not only benefit highway travellers financially, but will also make travelling convenient as there will be no long queues at toll gates.
The length of the National Highway is 146195 km. There are a total of 1030 toll plazas within its ambit, on which this scheme will be applicable. But, there are still some obstacles in making the journey completely smooth. Actually, the scheme of annual toll pass is not being implemented on state highways and the total length of state highways in the country is 179535 km, which is more than the national highways.
However, a senior official of the ministry said that now there are no more tolls left on state highways. About 15 states have abolished toll tax on their highways, but expressways have also been built in many states On which toll tax is being levied. For example, in Uttar Pradesh, passengers will not be able to avail the facility of annual toll pass on Noida-Agra Yamuna Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway.