Toll Plazas In Visakhapatnam Going Cashless

We previously wrote how the toll plazas will remain free till December 3. Now the toll plazas of Visakhapatnam are all set to go completely cashless.

The eight toll plazas that come under the Visakhapatnam district of NHAI will be equipped with POS machines from the midnight of December 2, helping the toll plazas go cashless. The Union government has directed the people working at toll plazas to not collect charges from vehicles passing through, till December 2, so as to not cause inconvenience during the aftermath of demonetisation.

The NHAI will resume functionality on December 3 and will collect the toll fees using POS machines. NHAI in Visakhapatnam covers the areas between Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district and Vempadu in Visakhapatnam district. The total length of the NH-16 (Chennai-Howrah) under Visakhapatnam is 330 kms. A total of eight toll plazas cover these 330 kms, including Aganampudi in city, Nathavalasa in Vizianagaram, Chilakapalem, Madapam and Narsannapeta in Srikakulam district.

The toll plazas have tied up with various banks for the POS machines. SBI, Axis Bank and Dena Bank have offered up POS machines to the toll plazas in Visakhapatnam. People passing through these toll gates need no longer worry about carrying change or not getting back change for their higher denomination notes. The process of making the toll gates cashless will make the process transparent.

Toll gates will accept the old Rs 500 notes till December 15, as long as the toll fee is above Rs 200. The Visakhapatnam unit has incurred a loss of Rs 19 crore since November 10. As we’d also previously written, even the Visakhapatnam port area will now be implementing e-tolling. One of the perks of e-tolling is reduction of cashless transactions by atleast 10 minutes. E-tolling is different from cashless transactions in such that the vehicle need not stop at the toll plaza. A sensor in the vehicle will allow the plaza to identify the vehicle and the number to let it through. Whereas in the toll plazas on the highway with POS machines, the vehicle needs to stop to swipe.