Team-BHP - NHAI: Nationwide Toll Plaza Data now online!

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 3587164)

For your trip, toll charges could be around Rs. 2500 - but it might differ a lot, depending on the road you take. Basically, it will be negligible compared to your other expenses (food, fuel, accommodation).

Yes, maybe the only benefit of knowing each toll charge amount would be to have the necessary cash and change ready so that you don't spend time completing your transaction at the toll booth.
For example some of the tolls on the NH7 & 47 are 51, 88 and will end up delaying if you don't have the change.
Always a good idea to carry coins in 1, 2, 5 rupee denominations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rintu (Post 3587073)

Hi,

We are in the process of planning a long road trip in India...

1) Is there a way to find out the approximate toll charges for the entire trip once you finalize the route ? (Just to get an idea as to how much cash to carry)

Rgds

Once you plan the route (say using Google maps), you'll get to know the toll roads you'll be passing through and the distance covered on the toll roads.

For cars, as a rough estimate, you can budget at the rate of about 76 paise for every km of toll road. (source)
For 1000 KM of toll road, carry about Rs: 750 for toll.

Pasting a reply from a friend who had mailed some details .

Quote:

1) Back in 2012, I think toll cost totaled ~Rs. 5000 from Bangalore to Longewala and back. We did take a lot of non-tolled roads in Maharashtra and Gujrat while exploring. If you stick to the Golden Quadrilateral (tolled), it should cost you about Rs.1 per kilometer. All in all, you should be spending about Rs. 600-800 on tolls per day.

Considering that in India not all places accept card payments, you should be carrying enough cash to cover expenses (fuel, food, accommodation) for the next two days, and some emergency cash as well. Hence carrying extra cash specifically for tolls isn't that significant.

2) Not yet. You will have to stop and pay manually.

3) Return trip should usually be within 24 hours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rintu (Post 3587073)

Hi,

We are in the process of planning a long road trip in India. Was going through the travelogue section to gather information to create a travel plan. The trip will be from Trivandrum, Kerala to Longewala, Rajastan.

1) Is there a way to find out the approximate toll charges for the entire trip once you finalize the route ? (Just to get an idea as to how much cash to carry)
2) Are there any automatic toll payment systems on any of the new highways ?
3) Understand that there are "one way" and "return" toll tickets. If you opt for the "return", does it have to be a same day return or can be after a few days ?

Rgds

During my Ahmedabad - Kerala trip in July 2011, the one way toll charges was around Rs 1100. We had taken the Pune-Kolhapur-Mangalore route. Am not sure if there has been any substantiall increase in the toll charges or if any new tolls have come up. As suggested by NPV, best would be to carry coins and small denomination currency.

AFAIK return tickets are only valid for same day travel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rintu (Post 3587073)

Hi,

1) Is there a way to find out the approximate toll charges for the entire trip once you finalize the route ? (Just to get an idea as to how much cash to carry)
2) Are there any automatic toll payment systems on any of the new highways ?
3) Understand that there are "one way" and "return" toll tickets. If you opt for the "return", does it have to be a same day return or can be after a few days ?

Rgds

1) From my experience in the south, between Chennai - Bangalore - Kerala, my analysis is that the toll charges are approximately 75 Paise to 1 Rupee per kilometer. This is based on my travel on NHAI highways and is an estimate. I do not know if that varies much in the North.

2) I haven't seen automatic toll payment systems like you have in US, you cannot just drive pass a toll plaza and pay tolls later online using services like Plate Pass.

3) Return toll tickets are valid for 24 hours from the time it is issued. For your travel, I suggest one way tickets. Also, the difference between one way and return tickets aren't too much to be concerned.

Have fun and drive safe.

Thanks guys:thumbs up.

I think they've renamed the website to http://www.nhtis.org/map.htm

National Highways Toll Information System

Its a wonderful website. The one feature I liked best is once you enter your origin and destination, it charts the route on the map and the applicable toll plazas will "blink". You can then click on that icon to display the toll details. In addition to it, it also lists the toll for the entire trip. Check it out.

Just wondering why they have toll charges of 33, 51, 71 etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpksuhas (Post 3587245)

I guess this is same everywhere. However during a recent trip on NH4 saw this pasted on all toll booths.

Attachment 1311612

I had actually seen them pasted at few booths when I drove to Chennai in September taking the usual Krishnagiri-Vellore route. Then I thought things are changing and limited to this stretch but I believe this has been initiated at National level by NHAI.

Even during the recent trip to Pune (the same drive we met first time :)), I was surprised that all the 4 toll Plazas in MH returning exact change to vehicles ahead/next to us.

As for me, I have this standard practice of carrying a poly bag full of coins good enough to fit in one of the cup holders that aids me for the entire Trip.

In fact, the worst experience was Chalageri toll which amounts to 95/- where during the return drive the Toll booth attendant arrogantly asked for 5 Rs change. Arrogant because even when I said I finished all 5 rupees coins since I have been driving from Pune, he said he doesn't have!

All this after the previous tolls we paid were - 55,35,15, 65 & the rest till Bangalore was 95,55, 55, 35!!

So Altogether, if one has to drive Bangalore to Mumbai, he needs to carry at least 9 coins of 5 Rupees and if NICE is part of this, may be another one depending on where you enter NICE from.

I actually told this guy I was ready to pay 100, ask your management to increase this to 100:Frustrati.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moralfibre (Post 3399702)

The website to access toll plaza information is: http://nhaitis.org or http://nhaitis.org/index.html

Both these links seem to be out of order for sometime now. These were really useful in estimating the number of tolls and recharging the FASTag accounts. Are there any other reliable websites providing required information?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmartCat (Post 3587222)

Not sure about toll booths - but here in Bangalore, all shops have ample supply of this particular currency suitable for small transactions.

Attachment 1311606

Wow !! I used to think this currency is valid only in supermarkets like Dmart. Surprising to hear even toll plazas adopted this currency. ChocoCurrency is getting stronger indeed.

Dmart near my home used to have a habit of handing these over to customer instead of change. I got fed up with this. I collected almost 300 of these, made purchases worth 500 and payed 200 cash plus these.

I saw the most confused faces on earth then. Arguments ensued for about 30 minutes and in the mean time a couple of other customers joined me. Guess what @ Dmart eventually accepted cash+ChocoCurrency. rl:

I visited that store multiple times after that but was never given this ChocoCurrency again. May be because they stopped it all together or may be because they remember me. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorqueSteer (Post 4993101)

Surprising to hear even toll plazas adopted this currency. ChocoCurrency is getting stronger indeed.

Not so long ago, at least till I started to use Fastag, I have received Biscuit Pack instead of 5 Rs on few toll Plazas before Pune.

So, we have moved on and graduated from ChocoCurrency to BI(scui)Tcoinslol:.