[A350XWB]

Today, I asked about the first phase implementation and the guy at the toll booth told me that the system will be active from Monday. I gave him the card anyway as he also wanted to test it and it seemed to be working. The actual printout was taken by the normal method. This was at the Bannerghatta toll plaza.

[hemanth.anand]

Today Morning, the toll operator asked me to get a card for epay. I told I already have and am waiting for them to start operations. he told it will start soon.
A few minutes ago I got the following email from NICE that it is started from Yesterday!

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are happy to inform you that NICE e-Pay transactions through smart cards have been activated. We request all NICE e-Pay users to use smart cards for all future e-Pay toll transactions.
In order to protect the interest of NICE e-Pay customers, all future epay transactions will be validated through smart cards.
NICE e-Pay users who have not collected their smart cards may please collect their smart cards from any of the following toll plazas.

1. Hosur road toll plaza
2. Tumkur road toll plaza
3. Link road toll plaza(Between 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM)
4. Bannerghatta road toll plaza (Between 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM)
5. Mysore road toll plaza (Between 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM)
6. Site Office (Between 10.00AM to 5.30 PM)

Regards,
NICE e-Pay Team

will have to see in the evening if it is really started.

By the way, here is a picture of a car and two wheeler epay cards together.

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Today Morning, the toll operator asked me to get a card for epay.
A few minutes ago I got the following email from NICE that it is started from Yesterday!

Hemanth, I also got the mail today informing that it was active from yesterday Forget future proof, this is past proof.
Today morning also, they did not ask for the card at Bannerghatta toll booth. I'm also waiting for the evening commute to see if it is really activated. But yesterday evening, I noticed couple of people inside the toll booth at Hosur road entry, doing something which seemed to be calibration or diagnosis of some sort, maybe of the reader.

[hemanth.anand]

Got this email today from NICE. Now JIO Money App can also be used to recharge epay accounts. But more than that the very good and important thing is there will be no Convenience Fee when we recharge through PayTM or JIO Money.

Hi,

We are Happy to inform you that you now have another option to recharge your NICE e-Pay account.

You can now recharge using JIO Money App.

You can use JIO Money with any valid Mobile No. regardless of telecom operator.
You can follow the steps mentioned below

Install the app
Signup
Use option "Pay Bills and Services"
Click on toll and you can recharge your e-pay Account.


Note :There is no Convenience Fee when you recharge through PayTM or JIO Money

Regards,
NICE e-Pay Team

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Got this email today from NICE. Now JIO Money App can also be used to recharge epay accounts. But more than that the very good and important thing is there will be no Convenience Fee when we recharge through PayTM or JIO Money.

I guess they have reworded the email now. I got the following:

Hi,

We are Happy to inform you that you now have another option to recharge your NICE e-Pay account.

You can now recharge using JIO Money App.

You can use JIO Money with any valid Mobile No. regardless of telecom operator.
You can follow the steps mentioned below

Install the app
Signup
Use option "Pay Bills and Services"
Click on toll and you can recharge your e-pay Account.


Note :There is no Convenience Fee when you recharge through JIO Money

Regards,
NICE e-Pay Team

Paytm still charges convenience fee.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

I guess they have reworded the email now. I got the following:


Paytm still charges convenience fee.

I recharged a test amount of 100 through PayTM when I got the email. I was charged nothing!
But now tested again and it is charging a convenience fee

[autospeaker]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

A few minutes ago I got the following email from NICE that it is started from Yesterday!


will have to see in the evening if it is really started.

Is this "tap and go" facility activated yet, at any booths?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

Is this "tap and go" facility activated yet, at any booths?

I've not travelled on NICE road for the last 10 days. Atleast till then the tap and go wasn't implemented anywhere. As per their email, it's the second phase and may take a month after the first phase is implemented. So I guess tap and go will take some more time.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

Is this "tap and go" facility activated yet, at any booths?

Not yet. Operator asks for the card, taps on the machine next to his PC, vehicle details are pulled from the card, he enters the destination, prints the receipt and hands it over. That is how it is now. No time saved with the current set up. The card reader reads the vehicle details rather slowly. Manual entry was much faster.

[gadadhar]

I collected my cards for 2 cars yesterday. While checking which card is linked to which car, the guy in charge said it doesn't matter since the phone no is same for both. I got confused but could not get a clear clarification.

I have kept both the cards and used one today morning at Bannargahata gate, Car no that is printed on the receipt is for the car which I was using then. I am not sure it was entered manually or it got pulled from the card details. I am planning to use the other card next time and see which car no appear on the receipt.

[hemanth.anand]

Group of Elephants on NICE road last Saturday caused a scare and jam on NICE road

BENGALURU: On Saturday morning, a herd of four adult elephants — three females and one male — were spotted by locals on NICE Road near Kengeri. With shrinking forest space, vanishing corridors and encroachment of wildlife habitats, herds of elephants are regularly being sighted on major roads on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Source

"Things are under control now, there is nothing to worry about. The elephants were scared and had lost their way. This happens regularly during the migratory time of elephants. Humans come into close contact with elephants as they have encroached upon the elephant corridor and habitat," an official from ground told DH

Source

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

I have kept both the cards and used one today morning at Bannargahata gate, Car no that is printed on the receipt is for the car which I was using then. I am not sure it was entered manually or it got pulled from the card details. I am planning to use the other card next time and see which car no appear on the receipt.

I used the 2nd card today with the same car, receipt is still printed with the same car no that I was using then (and not the 2nd car) .

My conclusion is:
1. Both the car registration nos are linked to both the card.

2. Card reader will bring up both the car nos to the toll gate attendant

3. Toll attendant selects the appropriate no after verifying against the CCTV image on his computer screen

This is one additional manual step if you have more than 1 vehicle registered on the card, can be cumbersome if the no of vehicles are more like in case of a truck or bus fleet owners.

I will be able to confirm above once I use card in the second car.

[gadadhar]

Recharged INR 500 through Paytm today, process was very smooth and recharge was instantaneous and NO convenience fee.

With a dedicated lane with a tap and go option, life in NICE should become lot nicer.

[hillsnrains]

Rant alert!!

On any normal day (9-10 AM, 5-6PM), spending 5-10 minutes just for paying toll at NICE road, Electronic city toll gate is the norm. For god's sake they can adopt/implement something similar fastag. For ages they are talking e-pay etc. but nothing happened on the ground.

With the quality of the NICE road tarmac, the apt name should be "Not So NICE". The stretch between Electronic city and Kanakapura road is just horrible and they charge 70/- per one way trip. This is nothing less than day light robbery. Poor souls in Bangalore don't have any other option.

[yajaman99]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Recharged INR 500 through Paytm today, process was very smooth and recharge was instantaneous and NO convenience fee.

With a dedicated lane with a tap and go option, life in NICE should become lot nicer.

I was happy when i read this message, unfortunately when i tried to recharge the toll using Paytm it still shows a convenience fee. The Debit card is the lowest at 0.35%