Toll Collection Temporarily Suspended On National Highways

On Wednesday, the government asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to temporarily suspend toll collection on national highways to ease emergency services in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The suspension comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days starting 25 March in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

In a tweet on Wednesday night, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "In view of Covid-19, it has been ordered to temporarily suspend the collection of toll at all toll plaza across India. This will not only reduce inconvenience to the supply of emergency services but also save critical time."

Earlier, the ministry had advised NHAI to follow the home ministry's guidelines about toll plaza operations following the lockdown. The prevailing condition may be treated as "Force Majeure" of concession or contract agreement in terms of the finance ministry, Gadkari said.

In December, NHAI had rolled out the electronic toll collection programme across India in its over 500 toll plazas using FASTags.