Getting irritated by the behaviour of toll point staffs…
Today started my drive down to Chennai from Pollachi… My toll started from Coimbatore L&T toll and the toll charge was ₹31 and I gave him ₹50…
The staff sitting on the booth asked for ₹1 or ₹2 or ₹5… When I said I didn’t have change, he made so much fuss & facial gestures before tendering the change…
In the next toll the toll cost is ₹80 & I gave ₹500… The toll staff here showed his frustration by asking what will he do if I give 500 bucks in the morning..
I told the second toll guy that even I’m frustrated paying Toll in spite of paying Road Tax, Income Tax, Service Tax, Sales Tax and many more taxes…
I asked if I’ve option to evade that toll? He said no choice… I told him two things and moved;
- He has no choice but to serve me..
- He is a public servant and he has to service politely…
Then in my 7th toll point the cost of toll was ₹47 and when I gave him ₹50 he tendered only ₹2… When I asked him for ₹1 he said he is not having change for ₹1…
I told him that is not my problem and I said I’m not moving without my ₹1… Then he went to next counter and got my change back… Again he gave me a staring look…
This is my 7 toll for the day and there were issues with 3 tolls and I’ve 4 more toll points cross…
There are many other irritating things in tolls like;
- They give very old/damaged notes as change.. When we ask for a replacement they show gestures…
- When we accept old/damaged notes and offer the same in next tolls, mostly they deny accepting it…
I don’t have issues accepting such notes provided every toll accepts them…
Also the congestion caused at the toll points is another frustration where we are made to wait for a tax we pay..
These days I’ve accepted such situations and I’ve built an expertise to deal with this toll folks… When I see a person showing attitude I revert back by showing mine…
One experience with a toll staff who denied taking a damaged ₹10 note which I got from a previous toll.. The toll fee was ₹53 and I gave him ₹1000 and I kept returning the change he offered me and frustrated him for 30 min…
Though I had to become a nuisance for other travellers I wanted to do it to teach them a lesson…
I made the manager attend me and apologise on behalf of the staff… Then I wrote a formal complaint and moved..
I’m not sure if they moved my complaint… It’s been more than 6 months and I got no response from NHAI or the firm which got the contract to operate the Toll…
I’m planning to write a letter to about my experience to Nitin Gadkari under who’s ministry Highway Department comes… Let’s see how the ministry responds..
AnandNataraj 
You say you are frustrated for paying toll tax in spite of paying road tax and other taxes? Why
Would you be happy to drive on old and pot holed roads like earlier?
Paying have to pay toll tax in every country where they have a developed highway system like US, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Japan.
Paying toll tax is required for a better highway system. If your complain is against the method of toll collection, then it is a valid paying because I, and everybody else, also suffers due to the shoddy toll collection system
I have submitted a proposal for Automated Toll Collection System to NHAI and waiting for approval. In my system, NO NEED to wait at the toll barrier and you can simply drive away. However, prior registration would be required for making the payment online. My system is different from the existing FasTag system. You don’t need to install any device in your car and everything is automated and Mahoney deducted the moment you cross the plaza. Just waiting for approval.
First I’m irritated by behaviour & attitude of the person collecting the toll.
Second, there are some toll operators who don’t maintain the roads and still collect toll. One such place is Sriperumbudur Toll bear Chennai.
Third the bottle necks tolls create. Most of the tolls have vehicle queueing for almost a mile.