The Indian government is planning to remove toll plazas from national highways across the country and shift to reliance on automatic number plates in cars to deduct the tax.
A pilot scheme is underway and legal amendments are also being made to facilitate this, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari told The Indian Express.
How will this work? What are the limitations? What will happen to FASTags? Here's all that you need to know.
Why do we pay the toll?
In India, for every state or national highway/expressway, a fee is charged for raising the cost incurred in constructing as well as for maintaining the roads. This fee is called toll and is a kind of tax. Once the cost of the highway is recovered, the fee is collected at a lessened rate of 40 percent, for the purpose of maintenance of the road.
Who collects the toll now?
Once a highway or an expressway is built, toll plazas are set up and rates are fixed by the government. The management of these toll plazas is then entrusted to a private party, which operates the toll plazas and collects the toll.
Under the FASTag system, which is an electronic toll payment system, people can make contactless and cashless payments at toll plazas. The FASTag deducts the fee charged at the toll plaza from your account – which can be recharged online.
How will the new system work?
The plan to remove toll plazas from highways was indicated by the Centre in 2019, with the announcement of high-security registration plates (HSRP), which will help get all the information about the vehicle.
"Now, the plan is to remove toll plazas and put cameras, which will read these number plates and the toll will be deducted from the account directly. We are also doing a pilot of this scheme," Nitin Gadkari told The Indian Express, in an interview.
What are the hindrances to the implementation?
There is no provision under the Indian laws to penalize someone who skips the toll plaza, in order to not pay the tax.
"We may bring in a provision for cars which do not have these number plates to get them installed within a certain period of time. We will need to bring in a Bill for this," Gadkari told the newspaper.
What are the advantages?
The toll you pay may be marginally lesser. This scheme is also likely to reduce traffic congestion in the plazas.
“At present, you have to pay full charges even at toll plazas located 60 km away from each other. Now, if you use the highway only for 30 km, you will be charged only half the price with the help of the new technology,” Gadkari told Hindustan Times.
“There will be no stoppage for vehicles and hence, there will be less pollution, and it will also save time. With the new technology, money can be deducted directly from the drivers’ bank accounts,” he added.
What will happen to cars that don't have the new plate?
According to Gadkari, the Centre is working on a plan to provide the HSRPs to old vehicles too.
But, what about FASTags?
There is no clarity on this.
According to Gadkari's answer in the Lok Sabha, about 97 percent of the total toll collection of nearly Rs 40,000 crore happens via FASTags. The remaining 3 percent pay higher than the normal toll rates for not using the system and choosing to pay via cash.
As per government data, it takes 47 seconds per vehicle to cross a toll plaza. More than 260 vehicles can be processed per hour via the FASTag lane, as compared to112 vehicles on manual lanes.
When will toll plazas be removed?
Again, there is no clarity on this. Watch out this space for more information.
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