New Delhi:
From Friday midnight, the fully cashless RFID toll system at Delhi borders commenced. As soon as it came into the effect, only those commercial vehicles which have RFID tags were allowed in Delhi and this led to chaotic situations at the entry points. More than 2,600 commercial vehicles were penalised after being found entering Delhi through 13 major entry points without RFID tags or having insufficient recharge amount.
In a conversation with the news agency PTI, officials said, "From the midnight of September 13, around 2,625 commercial vehicles have been found entering Delhi through the 13 entry points without radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags or insufficient recharge amount in their tags.”
In a statement, the SDMC said, "Vehicle owners or drivers of all these vehicles were penalised twice the amount of toll and Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) was recovered before allowing them to enter Delhi."
The SDMC further stated that it has been noticed that despite sale of more than three lakh RFID tags, commercial vehicle owners or drivers are "reluctant to recharge their tags". “Till date, only 14,654 vehicle owners or drivers have recharged their tags and only 3,226 commercial vehicles have made payment through RFID tags while entering Delhi through these 13 toll gates,” the SDMC noted.
“Further, it has been also noticed that some commercial vehicles had entered Delhi through free lanes at these 13 entry points to avoid penalty. Registration numbers of these vehicles have been noted,” the SDMC concluded.
According to PTI report, Chairman of Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA), Bhure Lal has directed officials to issue notice, through local traffic police, to owners or drivers of vehicles which entered Delhi through free lane without paying the penalty. He also said that vehicle owners or drivers trying to evade the designated RFID toll lanes at 13 entry points will be prosecuted and their act will be treated as a contempt of the Supreme Court order.
(With Inputs From PTI)
