ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: The Federal Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan has stressed the need of making toll collection facilities on all the toll plazas along the national highways computerised.

He said this during his visit to the toll plazas at Islamabad-Lahore motorway (M-2) and GT Road where he met the toll staff and witnessed the various aspects of toll collection process. He was accompanied by the Parliamentary Secretary for Communication Chaudhry Seead Iqbal.

The minister said that the government was committed to providing an efficient and reliable road network to the people as the country’s economic and social development was not possible without it. “Our purpose is to provide such a system to road users where they could enjoy maximum comfort,” he said.

He said that modern and state of the art toll collection system would not only benefit the road users but also result in less congestion on toll plazas and help in generating greater revenue for the maintenance of highways

The National Highway Authority’s member finance Zafar Iqbal Gondal briefed the Minister about the working and management aspects of the toll plazas and about different measures taken by the authority to upgrade the toll collection system.

The minister was informed that toll collection process had been made computerized on all those locations where the traffic was most congested and would soon be extended to the remaining areas. He said that NHA, in collaboration with the National Detabase and Registration Authority (Nadra) had recently introduced automatic electronic toll systems on motorways to facilitate travelers.

He was informed that e-toll collection had made the process hassle-free by saving time and sparing motorists and transporters from standing in long queues for obtaining entry cards and payment of toll.

It was informed that the system enabled vehicles pass through toll plazas without stopping at the time of entry and exit on the motorways.

He was told that the new system had helped in making the toll collection process more transparent and enabled the authority to record the exact number of vehicles plying on the motorways.