The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) recommendations on allowing vehicles to pass through toll plazas when the line is longer than 100 metres in any of the lanes have been ordered by the High Court to be taken into consideration by the Centre.
A traffic bottleneck during peak hours and a delay in clearing the lines at the Paliekkara Toll Plaza in Thrissur were both mentioned in an appeal that the HC Division Bench, which Justice Muhammad Mushtaq and Justice Shobha Annamma Eappan were deliberating on, was bringing up.
Nithin Ramakrishnan, a Palakkad resident, asked the court to rule on the application of the rules, particularly the one regarding the service time at toll plazas, in the policy circular released by the NHAI on May 24, 2021, in the appeal.
The legal representative for the Central Government promised to tell the court of the explanation provided by the Center for how to allow vehicles to pass through the toll plaza without delays and traffic jams.
According to the NHAI circular, the necessary quantity of toll booths and lanes must be provided to ensure that even during peak hours, the service time at the toll booths will not exceed 10 seconds. Vehicles should be allowed to pass through without being charged a toll if the line is longer than 100 metres. This should continue until the line is within 100 metres of the front. All toll lanes at the toll booths must be designated with a yellow line every hundred metres. Also, these terms and restrictions must be prominently posted next to the toll booth.
