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A video of Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari is widely shared on social media. In the video, he is heard saying, “A pass should be issued to people people residing near a toll booth based on their Aadhar card. Moreover, there must be no toll booth within a limit of 60 km. However, some toll booths which are within a limit of 60 km are still operational….. However, I am telling you that within 3 months, we will close any toll booth which is operating within a limit of 60 km.”
The video is shared with a caption claiming that if your house is within 60 km of the toll booth then you will not have to pay the toll taxes.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “आपके घर से 60 किमी के भीतर किसी भी टोल बूथ पर कोई टोल शुल्क देय नहीं है। इसके लिए आपको अपने आधार कार्ड से गुजरना होगा। @nitin_gadkari यह केंद्र सरकार का आदेश है.”
“If you live within the 60 km radius of the toll plaza you need not pay anything. Your Aadhar card can be your proof. This is the order of the central government,” reads its English translation
SouthCheck found the claim to be misleading. We found that Nitin Gadkari was addressing two different issues which have been merged as one.
On searching with appropriate keywords, we found a Tweet done by ANI on March 22, 2022. The Tweet shares a screenshot of the viral video with a caption that reads, “We'll provide passes to locals having Aadhaar cards who reside near toll plazas. Further, I ensure that there will be only one toll plaza within 60 km & if there's a 2nd toll plaza, then it will be shut in the next 3 months: Union Road & Transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Lok Sabha.”
We further found the complete video on the official YouTube channel of Nitin Gadkari. The video was uploaded on March 22, 2022, with a caption that reads, “Reply on Demands for Grants under control of MoRTH for 2022-23 in Lok Sabha.”
At around 25 minutes, we can hear Gadkari saying the same thing as said in the viral video. He is heard saying that people living near toll booths must be issued a pass that prevents them from paying any toll taxes. Moreover, as a second issue, he suggested that all toll booths operating within a 60 km radius must be closed.
A document on the official website of MoRTH suggests that if a person’s house is within 20 km of the toll plaza then the person can get a concession after submitting the document for validation.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is misleading.
