Congress MP Sudha flags ‘unruly’ behaviour of toll gate employees at Chennai airport

CHENNAI: Congress MP from Mayiladuthurai R Sudha sought a probe and action into the ‘highhandedness’ and ‘unruly’ behaviour of employees at the toll gate in Chennai Airport who demanded her to pay the toll despite MPs and bureaucrats being exempted from paying the fare.

“Highhandedness and unruly behaviour exhibited by the toll gate operator and his untrained employees manning the gates at #Chennai-airport is shameful and legendary,” Sudha said in a message posted on her ‘X’ page Wednesday, “suffered the nuisance at the hands of the #Chennai-airport toll gate personnel for the second time in the early hours of September 11,” when she returned from Delhi.

Citing the exemption provided to MPs and bureaucrats from paying tolls on the national highways and public facilities like airports and railway stations, the Congress MP said, “Despite this, I was held up at 1.30 am on September 11 for a prolonged period by a group of unruly and unresponsive toll gate operators at #Chennaiairport. They refused to listen to reason, refused to see the identity card and refused to speak to anyone. They demanded money like highway robbers. Their supervisor too sounded menacing and disrespectful on the phone.”

She added that this was the second time she was subjected to such harassment and pointed out that it felt intentional.

In her X post, she also vowed to ensure action is taken against such tollgate entry-exit issues and that users of Chennai airport are treated with justice.

Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi of DMK also came to her aid with a post on X that said, “Many airport users are experiencing issues due to the poor service and irresponsible behaviour of airport authorities. Additionally, some toll gates fail to read Fastag, causing users to pay again, and toll staff often lack knowledge of the rules and regulations. The Government of India has to address these problems at all toll booths on national highways and airports.”