FasTag: Toll tax collection has started in the country through GPS. The Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has announced the launch of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based toll collection system. This system charges toll on the country’s national highways and expressways on a ‘pay as you use’ basis.
According to the new rule of the ministry, no charge will be taken from private vehicles equipped with GNSS for traveling up to 20 km on the national highway every day. After this, the more distance covered, the more distance will be charged for that much distance.
FASTag will also continue for now
The testing phase of this new system has been completed and its trial has also been started on Haryana’s Panipat-Hisar National Highway 709. Only those vehicles will benefit from this, which are equipped with GNSS.
Their number is still less, so this system will work on hybrid mode for now. That is, toll tax collection will also continue through cash, Fastag and automatic number plate recognition.
You will have to pay only the charge for the number of kilometres travelled
The GNSS based toll system collects data of toll name, location and distance travelled. This enables the dynamic toll charging system. This means that you will have to pay only for the number of kilometres travelled to drive on the highway.
At present, toll is charged manually, which means that you pay for some extra kilometres even where you have not taken the vehicle. The GNSS system will see how far you have travelled and will charge accordingly.
How will toll tax be charged?
A separate lane will be made for GNSS equipped vehicles at the toll plaza. Like Fastag, as soon as the vehicle passes the onboard unit, this unit will send signals to process charges which will be handled by the fintech company. If a non-GNSS vehicle enters these lanes, double the toll tax will be charged from it.
Currently, toll tax is collected through Fastag in the country
Currently, toll tax is collected in the form of Fastag and cash at toll booths in the country. Fastag is a type of tag or sticker. It is placed on the windscreen of the vehicle. Fastag works on Radio Frequency Identification or RFID technology.
Through this technology, the cameras installed at the toll plaza scan the bar code of the sticker and the toll fee is automatically deducted from the Fastag wallet. With the use of Fastag, the driver does not have to stop to pay the toll tax. It is used to reduce the time taken at the toll plaza and to make the journey easier.
