Government suspends toll collection on National Highways till Thursday

The government on Wednesday said it has suspended toll collection on the National Highways till Thursday midnight.

"The decision has been taken in order to avoid difficulties that may be faced by the highway users following instructions by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday that currency notes of the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 will no longer be legal tender from Tuesday midnight," Road ministry said in a statement.

"Instructions in this regard are being issued to all the concessionaires including BOT (build, own, operate), OMT (operate, maintain, transfer) operators and other fee collection agencies," the statement added. 

 

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Road Transport had permitted acceptance of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination notes at the toll plazas but soon after the announcement it started receiving complaints regarding insufficient lesser denomination currency notes at the plazas.

"So we decided to completely suspend collection of levy at the highways. We will bear the cost for these 2-3 days," Road Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters here.