Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes demonetisation: Toll becomes free till midnight of November 11

Giving a major relief to all commuters on highways, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has announced to suspend toll across all National Highways till midnight of 11th November to facilitate smooth traffic movement.

Earlier for avoiding long queues at toll plazas Pan India, the government had asked toll counters to accept the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes till November 11 midnight.

The decision was taken after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Raghav Chandra took up the matter with the Prime Minister’s Office after being flooded by calls from states over the grim situation at toll plazas.

It has been decided to suspend Toll across all National Highways till midnight of 11th November to facilitate smooth traffic movement

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) November 9, 2016

“We have issued instructions to all 365 toll plazas across the country to immediately accept currency denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 till November 11 midnight to ease the situation of jams and long queues at toll booths,” Chandra told PTI.

Chandra said he contacted the PMO as well as the Finance Ministry to apprise them of the condition at the plazas after being inundated by calls from commuters as well as state government officials over traffic congestion.

On being apprised of the situation, the government allowed toll plazas to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.

“NHAI has issued instructions to all concessionaires and developers including people managing toll plazas to abide by the instructions to ensure that travelers do not face any problems due to traffic hazards,” he said.

The Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes are legally accepted tenders at plazas till November 11 midnight, he explained.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday had announced the decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from November 8 midnight.