New Delhi: In a significant announcement, a senior Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation official has said that over 1 lakh vehicle owners who were stuck in the huge snarl on Mumbai-Pune Expressway earlier this month will receive toll refunds cumulatively amounting to Rs 5.16 crore. The massive traffic bottleneck took place following a gas tanker mishap.
What was behind the traffic gridlock?
It was on February 3 that a gas tanker overturned on the Khopoli stretch of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. This resulted in a 33-hour jam on the stretch. Traffic moved a snail’s pace initially and then came to a total halt. For several kilometres, motorists and passengers were stranded and grappled with acute shortages of water, food, and other basic necessities. It was a tough ordeal for all the hapless lot.
After the accident on the Expressway, the administration ordered an immediate halt to toll collection. But, by that time, toll charges had already been deducted from the FASTag accounts of numerous motorists.
What did the MSRDC say?
An MSRDC official was quoted as saying to PTI: “It has been decided to refund the entire amount collected from vehicle owners even after the order to halt toll collection was issued. The refund of Rs 5.16 crore will be processed by MSRDC. The amount will be directly credited to FASTag accounts of affected vehicle owners in the next few days.”
He added that the refund will cover toll collected on both highways, and the toll operator has been issued directions to provide detailed FASTag transaction records.
The official pointed out that some transactions may have been automatically processed before the toll plaza barriers were completely lifted, despite instructions to stop collection. All such transactions are being reviewed, and the money will be refunded to the affected motorists, he said.