India to become tollbooth free within two years

To facilitate hassle-free driving on the Highways, the government plans to create tollbooth free roads. Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari while addressing at the ASSOCHAM Foundation Week two days ago said that the government is planning to implement a new toll collection system.

The new system is based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) which aims to make India tollbooth free within two years.

He said that the government has partnered with the Russian government and finalized the new toll collection system.

As per the new system, vehicle owners need not stop and pay the toll amount at each toll plaza. But, the toll amount will be directly deducted from their bank accounts based on their vehicle movement.

Technology is essential to use GPS tracking. All the new vehicles are coming with this system. However, old vehicles do not have this system. So, the installation of GPS technology is required. The government wants to come up with some plan for this.

Gadkari said that utilization of technology not just helps the vehicle owners/drivers travel smoothly, but improves the toll income. He added that the estimated toll income would be ₹1.34 trillion in the coming five years.

The government initiated FASTag system one year ago. The system became mandatory by the government slowly. Now, it encourages all the vehicle owners or drivers to use FASTag system for uninterrupted travel at the toll plazas. While many toll booths are intended for the electronic toll collection system, only one or two are dedicated for cash collection at many toll plazas currently.

This move forcibly pushed many vehicle owners to opt for FASTag system as there is no need to wait for toll payment at the toll plaza. It also reduces the congestion at the tollbooths and enables the travellers to pass easily during their journey.

Image Credit: TeshTesh / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toll_Plaza_on_Roads_in_India_NH_27_National_Highway_Rajasthan_NH76_(old_system)_in_India.jpg