Great. Now, mchek is not sending me sms messages on my Tata Indicom number. So, I cannot use it anymore for renewing the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Smart Tag.
mchek is no longer working with Tata Indicom?
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Tag Archives: Smart Tag
More madness at Delhi Gurgaon Toll Plaza
For the second time this week, the sensors at the Toll Plaza just failed to work and accept my so called Smart Tag.
The first time was a disaster. I moved ahead and the barrier fell on my car! Thank god they have installed foamy material on the barriers… No visible damage was done.
It happened again earlier today. I waited for the car in front to leave and the barrier to come down.
I then drove slowly into the crossing. The machine failed yet again. I gave the Tag to the dude in the plaza, he punched in the number to let me through. Freaking awesome.
So much for fully automation tension free awesomeness.
mchek: More Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Madness
Good god. I tried recharging my Smart Tag using the pathetic OxiCash option.
Can’t. Apparently they are not accepting ICICI Bank accounts any more.
Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Smart Tag and Visa Credit Cards
I was happy to see when I noticed Visa Credit Card sign boards on the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway. The sign boards mentioned that I could now use a Visa Credit Card to recharge my Smart Tag.
I got online. Took a while before I could land on the relevant page.
Noticed that I cannot really recharge it manually. But I can download a form, take a printout, fill it up and I guess submit in their offices (?). Visa would then automatically take money from my card and recharge my Smart Tag.
I do not get it. Why cannot I just get on their website and pay using my Visa (or MasterCard) credit card?
I am instead forced to use the OxiCash service which does not accept credit cards again and requires me to have an account in one of their supported banks.
DSC Limited : Non-cooperation movement
I am ending my cooperation with DS Constructions (now DSC Limited).
I have suffered enough.
I believed them when applying for a smart tag.
I paid for recharging on the stupid Oxicash to recharge my tag.
I even paid 5% extra on the recharge which gives me absolutely no discount.
And this is what I get.
A truck driver gets in front of me in the tag only lane.
He has no tag. So, well he takes his time to pay the amount by cash.
I press horn to ask them to hurry the process.
No use.
A cop comes to me and tells me to calm down!
I asked the cop… Why not you go ahead and tell the truck driver to mend his way and do not enter the tag lane in the first place.
He replies: “वो तो सुधरने वाले नही. आप ही वेट करे जब तक वो निकलता नही.”
I have had enough. I plan to enter the tag lane from now on with a valid tag.
Do not use the tag.
Give a 1000 (or a 500) rupee note to the guy on the counter and ask him to give me a slip to go through.
This is what I am going to do.
Is that illegal? I am not sure. Would it create trouble for people behind me? Yeah sure. Do I care? Not any more.
Recharging your Delhi Gurgaon Expressway Smart Tag!
I finally managed to find the proper website of the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway. It’s located here.
They have three methods to recharge your tag…
One I have already specified here: Oxicash.
The second way is using an American Express card. This is something very strange. American Express is the least popular Credit Card company in India. Why are they not offering Visa or MasterCard options? Makes no sense.
Delhi Gurgaon Expressway Smart Tag Recharge Process?
It’s painful. From what I experienced. This is what I heard from the people in the customer care department at their office at the toll plaza…
They do not have a call center. You cannot recharge your smart tag anywhere but their office at the toll booth.
You have to stop at their office and get your smart tag recharged over the counter.
They do accept credit cards for recharging but make sure you have enough cash as they just might not take the payment through card when you reach there.
The office opens at 7 AM. I went there at around 9 AM. They did not accept payment through a credit card because the person who handled the credit card machine had not yet arrived in the office.
Luckily I had enough spare cash to get the card recharged or I would have to make more trips to their offices.
Pretty painful I would say.
Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway charges now for Rs. 17!
I just got to read this news article in Business Standard which says that the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is all set to break even in first year.
This is not surprising considering the heavy rush we get to see on the expressway every single day.
However, the shocking surprise is that they have already raised the price of the toll ticket. It is now being charged at Rs. 17 compared to Rs. 16 before.
Customers who have the 50% discount Smart Tags are now paying Rs. 10 per trip.
Total Rip-off!
And I have already mentioned it before. From what I have seen, they no longer allow free traffic if the delay time has crossed five minutes. And they have done nothing to stop two and three wheelers from coming on to the expressway.