Chaos at Aganampudi toll plaza on the first day of FASTag in Vizag

FASTag usage has started at Aganampudi toll plaza- one of the major toll plazas in Vizag. Sunday, 15 December 2019 marked the first day of the FASTag implementation at the Aganampudi toll plaza.

The hi-tech method has been brought into effect so that toll plazas across India enable travelers to have quicker check-out time. However, the passengers were troubled at the toll plaza in Visakhapatnam owing to a few teething problems. Almost 40% of the vehicles that arrived at the toll plaza didn’t have a FASTag RFID on them. It is to be noted that the FASTag method was made mandatory by the government, and the date for its purchase was extended till December 15, 2019.

Aganampudi toll plaza witnesses at least 50,000 vehicles that travel on the national highway every day. Six lanes at the Aganampudi toll plaza in Vizag were allocated for FASTag enabled vehicles on Day 1. Two lanes were left for the vehicles that didn’t have the RFID chip-enabled – these vehicle owners had to pay at the plaza as per the old method to proceed further. However, the vehicles that arrived at the toll plaza had no information about this, which led to confusion and chaos.

There was a traffic jam at the plaza since the number of vehicles without FASTag outnumbered the enabled ones. The regular vehicles sped into the FASTag lanes and proceeded to pay their toll fee, delaying the FASTag enabled vehicles. Some of the vehicle owners were able to purchase the FASTags at some of the shops near the plaza and attach the RFIDs on their vehicles at the plaza itself. Previously, there were separate lanes for two-wheelers and autos at the plaza. With these exclusive lanes removed to accommodate the FASTag vehicles, the traffic congestion worsened further.