In an effort to decongest traffic at toll gates for most travellers during the festive season, the National Building Society (NBS) yesterday launched the “Happy Hour Promotion” which gave hundreds of motorists free passage at the toll areas.
Most motorists had a nightmarish experience at various tollgates around the country as they were trying to make last-minute Christmas travel to their different locations.
Officials from the NBS and ZINARA interacting with motorists at the Shamva toll gate (Lovejoy Mutongwiza/263Chat)
Some motorists were stranded for hours at the Shamva tollgate with ZINARA officials overwhelmed by the number of traffic as well as a breakdown in some payment systems.
However, through the society’s intervention, the commotion was cleared in minutes at the Shamba tollgate as the NBS paid for toll fees of hundreds of motorists
For the lucky motorists, the frustration turned into excitement when they were told they had free passage.
“I’m thankful to NBS for this intervention, I have been on this queue for close to an hour and I have to travel through the night now. NBS did the right thing because most of us were going to be stuck here for longer,” said one traveller.
Another one could not hide her excitement as enjoying the Christmas gesture from the society as she said: “I’m very happy that since I started driving, this is the first time I have had to freely pass through a tollgate. Thank you NBS, I hope this happy hour becomes a permanent feature.”
In the spirit of promoting accountability, the NBS was paying toll fees to law-abiding my motorists whose insurances were paid up.
This left some motorists counting their losses.
“if I had known that there was such a good promotion, I would have paid up my insurance and enjoyed the same benefits that fellow motorists are enjoying but when this promotion come back next time, I will be paid up,” said one traveller bound for Mutoko.
Meanwhile, the NBS has made significant strides to build sustainable communities.
Its mandate is deeply rooted in Housing delivery and has ventured into corporate partnerships with companies like the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) to deliver world-class Point of Sale (POS) merchant solutions at all ZINARA customer touchpoints.
During yesterday’s promotion, most motorists inquired on the corporate SMEs and individuals accounts which they were responded to by staffers from the society.
