During the upcoming annual pilgrimage season to Sabarimala, devotees will be provided with a FASTag-based parking facility at Nilakkal. K Ananthagopan, the President of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), announced this development, highlighting that the facility would be introduced with the technical assistance of ICICI Bank. Importantly, the parking fees will remain unchanged.
An agreement was officially signed between the TDB and ICICI Bank to implement this initiative, with ICICI Bank commencing work on the necessary infrastructure arrangements. According to the revenue-sharing agreement, the bank will receive 2.1% of the fees collected, with 1.50% allocated to the FASTag authority. Additionally, the TDB has entered into agreements with two banks, ICICI and South Indian Bank, to offer digital payment facilities at all temples. This includes options such as debit card and credit card payments, QR codes, and swipe card payment facilities at major temples. To streamline the counting process of money offerings, metal detectors will be placed at the entrance of the ‘Bhandaram,’ where the offerings are counted, reducing the need for physical body checks on the counting staff. Furthermore, an emergency exit will be established in that area, and significant progress has been made in constructing a folding roof over the 18 holy steps, with about 75% of the work completed.
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