<![CDATA[The government has further extended the date for toll exemption on national highways till the midnight of December 2 in order to ensure smooth traffic flow and mitigate currency hardships. Rs 500 notes will be accepted at toll plazas on national highways from December 2 midnight to December 15, the government said. An official from the road ministry said, “For smooth traffic movement across all national highways, toll collection has now been suspended till midnight of December 2”. The official added, sufficient swipe machines will be installed at toll plazas with help from the SBI and other banks in order to make help commuters make payments and facilitate easy flow of traffic. The government earlier announced its decision to keep the toll collection in abeyance till November 11 midnight and this was later extended to November 14, then to November 18 and later to November 24. All concessionaires, including BOT (build-operate-transfer), OMT (operate-maintain-transfer) operators and other fee collection agencies have been instructed about the extension of the toll suspension date. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to tackle corruption and black money, the government, on November 9, said no toll fee would be collected on national highways till November 11 midnight. The government’s earlier decision to accept the withdrawn notes at toll plazas led to chaos in the absence of adequate change, causing massive traffic snarls. ]]>
