Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that within the next six months, the existing toll system will be replaced by a GPS-based toll system in the country with the help of several technologies. Nitin Gadkari said these things while addressing businessmen at a CII program in New Delhi.
He said that this initiative will help in reducing the traffic pressure on the road and will help the drivers to pay according to the distance.
“The government is looking at new technologies including GPS-based toll systems to replace toll plazas in the country. We will bring new technology in six months,” he said.
The move is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and charging motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways, Gadkari said.
In this program, he told that NHAI, the government body controlling the National Highways, is currently earning Rs 40,000 crore annually from toll collection. He has claimed that this income of NHAI will increase to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the next two-three years.
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is currently running a pilot project. Under this, automatic number plate recognition system is being implemented through automatic cameras, so that the toll will be deducted automatically without stopping the vehicles.
Before the implementation of FASTag, there was an average waiting time of eight minutes at toll plazas during the financial year 2018-19, but this time has come down to 47 seconds during 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Although there is considerable improvement in waiting time at certain locations, especially near cities, the densely populated towns there are still some delays at toll plazas during peak hours. The road transport and highways minister emphasized on the need of reducing the cost of construction without compromising with the quality.
