Toll booths to be removed within a year, money will be collected using GPS: Nitin Gadkari
The union minister added that he ordered a police inquiry into vehicles that still do not not use FASTag, the automatic toll plaza payment system.
The Narendra Modi government will do away with roadside kiosks, and lay down a GPS-based system for toll collection within a year, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Parliament on Thursday, PTI.
“I want to assure the House that within one year all physical toll booths in the country will be removed,” Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour. “It means that toll collection will happen via GPS. The money will be collected based on GPS imaging on vehicles.”
The minister said that currently, 93% of the vehicles pay toll using FASTag. But the remaining 7% still were yet to install the service despite the fact that they end up paying double toll.
Introduced in 2016, FASTag is an electronic toll collection system in India, which is operated by the National Highway Authority of India. It employs Radio Frequency Identification technology for making payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it or the toll owner.
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FASTag mandatory from February 15 midnight, vehicles without them to be charged double toll
From February 16, vehicles without FASTag are required to pay double toll fee at electronic toll plazas across the country. The government said that the decision was taken to further promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption, and provide for a seamless passage through the fee plazas.
Gadkari said that he had instructed the police to launch an inquiry into vehicles that still do not not use FASTag as there had been instances of toll theft and GST evasion involving commuters that do not use the automatic toll plaza payment system.
The Union minister also announced the vehicle scrappage policy in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, according to The Mint.
Gadkari said that if a commercial vehicle failed to get a fitness clearance, they will be de-registered after 15 years. Private vehicles will be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificates, the minister said.