Road Ministry To Roll Out GNSS-Based Electronic Toll Collection On Two National Highways To Ensure Barrier-Free Tolling

You might soon be able to sail through national highways without stopping at tolls! The road ministry will conduct a pilot study on two national highways in India to test toll collection through a satellite-based navigation system called Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India Nitin Gadkari talked about this development in Rajya Sabha recently.

Pilot Study On Satellite-Based Toll Collection On Two National Highways

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India will soon be conducting a pilot study to test toll collection through GNSS. They will conduct this study on two national highways – the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and the Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari talked about this development in Rajya Sabha recently. He said that the GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system will be implemented on select sections of national highways and will complement the existing FASTag system. Furthermore, the authorities plan to use a hybrid model where both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously. As per The Economic Times report, NHAI plans to integrate the satellite-based toll collection system with the current FASTag ecosystem, if all things go well.

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How This New Toll System Will Benefit The People

The ministry believed that this satellite-based toll collection system would greatly benefit the drivers by making the whole system more efficient. Under this system, road users will be charged based on the distance they have travelled on the tolled highway stretch, instead of paying according to the toll locations. It will ensure barrier-less, free-flow tolling. This will make driving hassle-free, especially on long routes. Furthermore, they feel that the system will reduce toll collection leakages and curb toll evasion. The ministry plans to have dedicated GNSS lanes at toll plazas as well to ensure smoother traffic flow.

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What are your thoughts on this satellite-based toll collection? Let us know in the comments!

Cover Image Courtesy: Canva (representative image)

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