The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has decided to conduct pilots of GPS-based tolling at the Bengaluru-Mysore national highway in Karnataka and the technology will be launched before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.
The ministry said in the Rajya Sabha that the Centre has appointed a consultant to provide advisory services on the implementation of new technologies like Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based barrier-less free-flow tolling.
“GNSS has the capacity to retrieve the positioning of the vehicle on the National Highway and calculates the user fee based upon the distance travelled… It has been decided to conduct pilots including Bengaluru-Mysore NH-275 in the state of Karnataka,” MoRTH informed the House in a written reply.
‘No toll booths’
Speaking in the upper house, minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is aiming to launch the technology before the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls.
“Soon we will, before the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, launch the satellite-based toll system. There will be no toll booths and no stopping. A photo of the number plate will be clicked from where you are entering the toll road and where you are exiting. The money will be deducted from your bank account automatically. The users will have to pay only for the distance they are travelling. We are aiming to launch this scheme before the introduction of the code of conduct,” he said.
The term of the Lok Sabha will end in May and the country will have elections for it around March-April.
How will the new system work?
As and when implemented, tolling will be done online either through Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras or a GPS device installed in the car that will read the location of the vehicle.
There will be a device at the entry and exit of the toll stretch that will read the location of the car. So, drivers not using the entire stretch will only pay for the distance they travelled. It will particularly benefit riders using smaller sections.
As per the ministry, the technology will be implemented across the country based on the results of the pilot. The toll plazas will no longer exist on highways.
“Just like there was a transition from cash towards FASTag, there will be another transition from FASTag towards GPS. This may take some time from a few months to some years but we are hopeful that it is going to benefit both – the users as well as the ministry,” a MoRTH official told News18 on condition of anonymity.
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