A few days ago, the Bharatiya Kisan Union had announced that toll booths in Haryana would not be allowed to collect toll from December 25 to 27. After this announcement, farmers protesting the Centre's new farm laws halted toll collection on most highways in Haryana on Friday. According to officials, toll collection was halted either past midnight or from early Friday morning at several toll points in the state.

While at many places, farmers took over toll plazas not allowing authorities to collect fees from commuters, at other places toll employees themselves halted the process in view of the protest. The toll plaza employees permitted vehicles to pass through without paying any charge.

Farmers stopped operation of toll plazas on NH-44 at Bastara in Karnal. They also halted toll collection process at another plaza located on the Karnal-Jind highway, at Khuian Malkana toll plaza at Dabwali in Sirsa district and at Makrauli Kalan on Rohtak-Panipat highway. However, the toll was being collected as usual on Friday morning at Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurgaon.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.

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