Change worry in toll collection

KOLKATA/DHANKUNI: The first day of toll collection since the demonetisation of 500- and 1000-rupee notes at 16 toll plazas on six national highways in Bengal remained more or less peaceful. Though sporadic brawls over change of Rs 2000 currency notes were reported. NHAI made some emergency arrangements of supplying change to toll plazas to save the day. First day also saw 9% toll collection electronically.
“It was not as bad as we had apprehended.But unless the liquidity issue is resolved, the problem will remain. People are agitated over the change. We have received many 2000-rupee notes at Palshit and Dhulagarh toll plazas. On the first day, we somehow managed. But on the days ahead, we may face serious problem,” said NHAI chief general manager Asutosh Gautam.
Palshit and Dhulagarh toll plazas alone require change of Rs 8 lakh and Rs 14 lakh respectively for smooth transactions. But the supply of change tricked down. At Dankuni toll plaza, there were brawls over credit card and debit card payments. “Many people blamed our system despite not having required balance in their account for carrying out the transaction,” said Nissar Mullick, in charge of Dankuni toll plaza.
At Dankuni toll plaza, the collection from 12 midnight on Friday till 8am on Saturday stood at Rs 12.5 lakh and from 8am to 4pm the figure was Rs 8 lakh. This is slightly higher than the collection on a usual day. NHAI will have an emergency meeting on Sunday on the required preparedness for next week.
Bengal has four toll plazas on National Highway 2 (Durgapur Expressway) — at Panagarh, Vivekananda Bridge, Dankuni and Palshit. On NH-6, there are two toll plazas at Dhullagarh and Debra. The state also receives a share of toll — Rs 66 crore day. Thanks to closure of toll plazas for the last 22 days, the loss for the state government is also quite sizeable.