No bus can enter ISBTs in Delhi without FASTag: Transport dept

The Delhi transport department on Saturday issued a notification saying that no bus will be allowed to enter and operate from the three Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBTs) in the city without a FASTag.
The notification also said that new rates for parking buses at the ISBTs will come into effect from Saturday night, and the charges will be collected only through FASTag.
Now all buses — government and private — will be charged ₹500, exclusive of goods and services tax (GST) for a parking time of 25 minutes, with penalties for those exceeding this time period. The charges will be collected only through FASTag.
“Provisions have been made to provide FASTags to vehicles that do not have them. Logistics have been upgraded for the implementation of the FASTag system and the porta cabins plus barriers have been refurbished. The operators’ rooms and storerooms have been air-conditioned,” said an official from Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC), which manages the three ISBTs at Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan, and Anand Vihar.
The new uniform stand fee charges will be applicable for interstate operations of state government buses and private buses with valid permits, the notification said.
Officials said that the underuse of ISBTs till now was because of rate differences between government and private buses, poor management of parking bays, bus staff using terminals as resting places and systemic issues such as staggered circulation due to extended turnaround time, which causes traffic gridlock outside ISBTs.
Till now private buses were charged more, which led to unauthorised parking and pick-and-drop of passengers on roads outside the ISBT complexes, resulting in traffic snarls aside from causing passenger and revenue loss to state-run buses, officials added.
The move is aimed at decongestion of the arterial ring road and road towards Tis Hazari and across the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, along with improving traffic flow in a large part of central, south and east Delhi in areas including Civil Lines, Tis Hazari, St Stephens Hospital, Sadar Bazar, Pul Bangash, Sabzi Mandi and Azad Market, Anand Vihar, along with the Ring Road.