NEW DELHI: Paving the way for the roll-out of satellite-based tolling on highways, the road transport ministry has allowed collection of user fee through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) on-board units installed in vehicles.
The govt has set the internal target to bring the first tranche of 2,000 km of NH network under this new tolling system by April 2025 and initially only commercial vehicles will be brought under this regime since these have vehicle location tracking devices.
Under this new tolling system, exclusively lanes will be marked for processing vehicles fitted with the GNSS OBUs to ensure their non stop passage. In a notification, the ministry said that if any vehicle without a valid and functional OBU enters the dedicated lanes, they will have to cough up double the user fee. A similar measure was taken when the govt had rolled out a mandatory FASTag system for toll collection.
According to the amended National Highways Fee Rules, vehicles fitted with GNSS will be allowed to travel free on highways and expressways up to 20 km daily on the same section of highway. The move is aimed at facilitating movement of local people.
As per the plan, NHAI will implement the GNSS-based tolling within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both RFID-based and GNSS-based electronic toll collection will operate simultaneously. The govt has completed the geo-fencing of nearly 1.4 lakh km of the NH network.
To begin with, existing toll plazas will have two or more dedicated ‘GNSS lanes’ wherein the default position of barriers will be open for free flow of GNSS vehicles. These lanes will have advanced readers to identify vehicles fitted with GNSS devices and the exact user fee will be deducted from the FASTag wallet.
Meanwhile, Indian and global technology majors including TCS, Infosys, Accenture, RailTel, TCIL, Sky Toll, Kapsch and Movyon have submitted applications to develop the system for satellite-based tolling on the country’s NH network.
The govt has set the internal target to bring the first tranche of 2,000 km of NH network under this new tolling system by April 2025 and initially only commercial vehicles will be brought under this regime since these have vehicle location tracking devices.
Under this new tolling system, exclusively lanes will be marked for processing vehicles fitted with the GNSS OBUs to ensure their non stop passage. In a notification, the ministry said that if any vehicle without a valid and functional OBU enters the dedicated lanes, they will have to cough up double the user fee. A similar measure was taken when the govt had rolled out a mandatory FASTag system for toll collection.
According to the amended National Highways Fee Rules, vehicles fitted with GNSS will be allowed to travel free on highways and expressways up to 20 km daily on the same section of highway. The move is aimed at facilitating movement of local people.
As per the plan, NHAI will implement the GNSS-based tolling within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both RFID-based and GNSS-based electronic toll collection will operate simultaneously. The govt has completed the geo-fencing of nearly 1.4 lakh km of the NH network.
To begin with, existing toll plazas will have two or more dedicated ‘GNSS lanes’ wherein the default position of barriers will be open for free flow of GNSS vehicles. These lanes will have advanced readers to identify vehicles fitted with GNSS devices and the exact user fee will be deducted from the FASTag wallet.
Meanwhile, Indian and global technology majors including TCS, Infosys, Accenture, RailTel, TCIL, Sky Toll, Kapsch and Movyon have submitted applications to develop the system for satellite-based tolling on the country’s NH network.