The ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the world has made every single citizen aware of the word “lockdown”. With the nationwide lockdown in India for the next 21 days or more, all the operations in the automotive sector have been halted by the brands to keep their employees safe from the pandemic. In addition to this, the toll collection at every toll plaza in the country has been temporarily suspended by the officials.
The toll collection has been suspended to provide hassle-free passage to the essential-service vehicles as well as save time for the emergency vehicles in the ongoing critical situation in the country. It is one of the other steps to ensure the fast supply of emergency services after the complete lockdown of every state and the shutting down of borders.
Every major road in the country including the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and all other local as well as travel facilities have been banned by the authorities to allow the citizens to practice social distancing, the only way to avoid contracting the novel COVID-19. The complete lockdown of the country has reduced the footfall to almost negligible though the citizens have full access to essential services like groceries, medicines as well as banking services.
The toll collection at the toll plazas across the country is expected to remain suspended for an indefinite amount of time until the situation is under control and the lockdown is lifted by the Indian authorities.
Tweeting the decision of suspending the toll collection, Mr Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways 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. #IndiaFightsCorona”
The tweet was shared by the minister after the NHAI wanted to confirm if they should continue collecting the tolls even with a shart traffic drop on the Indian roads.