Angry Car Owner Refuses To Pay Toll Due To Bad Road: Blocks Toll Lane For 9.5 hours [Video]

We have come across several incidents in the past where people have started arguments with employees at toll booths over poor service and the condition of the national highway. In most cases, these arguments end up in physical assaults, and people from both sides end up with injuries. However, a young man from Kerala decided to take a different approach - he refused to pay the toll and waited for almost 9.5 hours before they finally opened the gates.

The video has been shared by Marunadan Exclusive on their YouTube channel. In this video, we see the owner of a Hyundai i20 protesting at the toll plaza in this unique way. The person has been identified as Shento V. Anto, who is a cinematographer by profession. Shento hails from Palakkad district, and as part of his work, he often travels from Palakkad to Ernakulam and Thrissur. The incident happened at the Panniyankara toll plaza in Palakkad district.

The condition of the road is currently poor, and there is construction work going on in several sections. This is causing inconvenience to travelers and increasing travel time. Even the Kerala High Court had stated that if the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is unable to ensure safe and smooth travel for motorists, toll collection should be halted.

However, the company that took the contract for the toll is still collecting charges, and because of this, Shento has had to suffer losses on several occasions. He mentioned that he even had to drive his pregnant sister to Thrissur and Kochi via these broken roads on multiple occasions, and he has had bad experiences in the past.

The last time he drove through the Panniyankara toll plaza, he decided to protest but not violently. He did not recharge his FASTag. When the toll plaza staff asked him to move the car, he refused and told them that since he had not received any service from them, he was not willing to pay.

He parked the car in front of the boom barrier and started waiting. The manager at the toll plaza and many other staff members approached him, but Shento never spoke to them in an angry manner. He remained calm and stayed inside the car while giving hourly updates to his followers on social media.

He started noticing that his posts were reaching more people. Pressure began building on the toll booth staff, and he was repeatedly approached by employees asking him to just recharge for ₹50 and drive the car out.

Once again, he replied that he was not ready to pay as he was not receiving any service. He mentioned that even an ambulance could not pass through this stretch properly due to the construction and congestion. Hours went by, and the i20 and Shento continued to wait inside the car. He told them he was not going to pay the toll and that if they wanted him to leave, they should open the barrier and let him pass for free.

The waiting game continued. The toll booth staff even approached him and suggested that there was a hotel nearby where he could have dinner or use the washroom and leave the car there. To all of this, his reply was a firm no. After waiting for over 9.5 hours, they finally opened the barrier and let the car pass through the toll without any payment.

Shento won this protest without even raising his voice even once. This is actually a different kind of protest that we feel even the toll booth employees were also not expecting from a common man.

This shows how frustrated people are with the overall situation and we hope concerned authorities come across this incident and take necessary actions to make life of people much easier. Or else we expect to see more of such protests at toll plazas in different parts of the state.