To end the traffic snarls and long queues at toll plazas, the government is looking at new technologies to replace toll plazas in the country, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the upper house, the union minister said the new system will be introduced in the next six months.
According to Gadkari, the ministry of road transport is now searching for two options—satellite-based toll system, where the GPS will be in the car, and the toll will be directly subtracted from the driver's bank account, and the other option is through number plates.
“The government is in the process of introducing GPS instead of FASTag… on the basis of which we want to take the toll. Technology is also available on number plates and there is good technology available in India,” he said.
Insisting that the government hadn’t taken any final decision yet, Gadkari said the government would select the best available technology soon. He explained that in the number plate technology, there will be no toll plaza; “there will be a sophisticated computerised digital system by which we can give relief. There will be no queues…,” the minister said.
Gadkari also explained that the government would present a bill in Parliament to fine those who evade paying toll, as, at present, there is no law available to penalise anyone who does not pay toll at the plazas.
The minister also said that the number plates with new technology have been introduced, and it was mandatory for vehicle manufacturers to have the new number plates; there will be a computerised system by which one can collect toll using the new software.
He said that people will have to pay toll for the exact duration of the drive on tolled highways, and only that much toll will be subtracted from the account.
After introduction of FASTag, the toll revenues rose substantially to Rs 120 crore in a single day. Till date, 5.56 crore FASTags have been issued and its penetration is 96.6 per cent, he said.