The National Highway Authority in Pakistan has announced on Monday that the vehicles traveling on the motorway should install the M-tag by December 31, otherwise they will not only be prohibited from entering the motorway but will also have to pay a fine.
Lt Col (Retd) Faisal Nawaz, Chief Project Officer of One Network, a subsidiary of Frontier Works Organization (FWO), while talking to Independent Urdu, said that 2.5 lakh vehicles have been fitted with M-Tag, while our target is to add 50 more. Lakhs of vehicles are to be brought into Mtag’s network.
According to him, about 120,000 vehicles travel daily on M2 Motorway from Islamabad to Lahore. M-tag vehicles can easily leave the toll plaza within a few moments, thereby avoiding rush hour and saving time.
He further said that ‘the advantage of this is that the cash will not be collected at the toll plaza, but it will be transferred from bank to bank.’
According to him, ‘with the help of One Network App, you will also be able to charge your Mtag.’
Ishtiaq Ahmed, an official who is responsible for installing M-Tech at the Islamabad Toll Plaza on M-2, told Independent Urdu that on an average, 40 to 50 vehicles are being fitted with M-tags daily, but now the administration is Despite the announcement of the deadline, there was no increase in this number.
Ishtiaq, while explaining the procedure for applying the M-tag, said that ‘before, an ID card was enough to apply the M-tag, but now it is mandatory to have a vehicle registration smart card with it, otherwise the tag will not be applied.’
He said that the fee for installing a new M-tag is 200 rupees, but the balance is deposited by the owner of the vehicle as per his requirement.
Ishtiaq Ahmed further said that counters have been set up at a few places to apply M-Tag on M2 and charge its balance.
According to him, if the balance deposited in Mtag is exhausted, it can be recharged from these counters, while in this regard, an app Mtag One Network has also been created through which the balance can be recharged at any time as needed. may be charged.’
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Independent Urdu asked the vehicle owners traveling on the motorway in this regard, who expressed mixed reactions.
Most said that M-tag is a good convenience that does not require stopping at toll plazas. Even if I don’t have money in my pocket, I can easily recharge my Mtag through the app.’
Some people said that ‘one has to deposit money in advance, never know how much the balance is and have to recharge from there, which takes as much time as at the toll plaza without M-tag. It seems to pass so both net recovery and mtag options should be there.’
What is M Tag?
Motorway Police spokesperson Yasir Mehmood told Independent Urdu correspondent Izharullah that Mtag is a type of chip that is installed on the right side of the front windshield of the vehicle.
“The M-Tag is actually operated on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology which is scanned by a scanner in a booth at a motorway interchange,” he said.
He added that ‘an example of this is the way your ID card is scanned at a security check point and all your records come out there.’