Govt to challenge HC order on toll plaza VIP lanes

The

National Highways Authority of India

(NHAI) will challenge the

Madras high court order

to provide a separate lane at toll plazas for VIPs such as sitting judges. Sources said NHAI is likely to argue that the order is impossible it would be to implement. They said earmarking a lane for VIPs would not go down well with people and the lane would be underutilized.

Officials said the solution to traffic congestion at toll plazas lies in equipping toll lanes so that electronic tags can be read, 100% coverage of RFID FasTags in all vehicles and earmarking dedicated lanes only for vehicles with tags.


The court, in its order, warned of issuing a showcause notice to authorities unless a circular was issued to keep dedicated lanes for VIPs and any violation would be viewed seriously. It observed that vehicles of VIPs and sitting judges are stopped at toll plazas and they are compelled to wait for 10 to 15 minutes.

During the last review meeting of infrastructure sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set April 2019 as the deadline for complete coverage of RFID tags and enabling all lanes to process tagged vehicles. Moreover, he has asked the transport ministry to come out with a scheme by October to provide free RFID FasTags for vehicles of dignitaries who are exempted from paying toll.

TOI on August 7 reported the government move to provide “zero transaction tags” for authorized vehicles.

Vehicles transporting and officially accompanying the 25 dignitaries, including the President, the Prime Minister, chief justices and judges of Supreme Court and high courts, Union ministers, chief ministers, defence chiefs and MPs are currently exempted from paying toll.