Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the government plans to implement an annual pass system to replace toll collection on national highways, aiming to improve operational efficiency and enhance convenience for road users.
According to media report, Gadkari highlighted the implementation of barrier-free toll collection as part of a pilot project in Gharonda, Choryasi, Nemili, UER-II, and the Dwarka Expressway. He mentioned the introduction of satellite-based tolling, which was exclusively reported by HT earlier this month. He further explained that the pilot locations will alternatively operate using an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) FASTag system for barrier-free and free-flow tolling.
Gadkari said satellite-based toll requires additional constellations to achieve the desired level of positional accuracy and the development of appropriate receivers for receiving signals in addition to the existing features of navigation with Indian constellation. “Therefore, moving towards satellite-based tolling requires further deliberations,” said Gadkari, who was responding to lawmakers Dineshbhai Makwana and Dharambir Singh’s questions about transparency in toll fees.
Gadkari stated that toll rates are set according to the National Highway Fee Rules, 2008. He noted that fee rates are displayed at each plaza and are also available on the National Highway Authority of India’s website through the Toll Information System. Additionally, Gadkari mentioned that any changes to user fee rates for each financial year are published in newspapers and made accessible to the public to ensure transparency and prevent discrepancies.
Gadkari said the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) has been installed across 325 national highway projects, covering approximately 20,000 km. In response to a lawmaker Rajkumar Chahar’s question, he said national highways with four or more lanes were being gradually equipped with ATMS.
👉 Click here to read the latest Gujarat news on TheLiveAhmedabad.com