‘Satellite-based toll collection system to be introduced in Bihar in 1st phase’

Patna: Ever wondered if you can zoom past the toll gates on a highway and pay for only the distance you covered, and not the entire stretch, directly through your bank accounts? This could soon be a reality as the FASTag system, which has been in use for collecting toll taxes on highways since 2014, would likely be replaced by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based technology.

The central govt is mulling to purchase the GNSS-based technology, which will deduct the highway toll fee from the travellers’ linked bank accounts through a secured payment system, said sources on Thursday.The GNSS-based technology, developed by software company Tecsidel India in collaboration with a Czech Republic firm, was demonstrated before a team of NHAI, Indian Highway Management Company Limited and National Payments Corporation of India in presence of the software company CEO Akash Sinha on April 24.The company claims to be the first one to develop this system and demonstrate before the officials concerned, even as 23 other companies are also involved in making this technology.According to the sources, the govt will purchase this technology and invite a tender for the implementation of the system across the country. In the first of a five-phase programme, the govt will implement it on 2,242km of highways, including 210 highways shared between Bihar and neighbouring West Bengal’s Kolkata and Asansol, the sources added.Once implemented, it will reduce traffic jams, at least the ones near the toll plazas, which would cease to exist on the highways. “The technology will allow seamless movement of vehicles, which would not require to stop at the toll gates for payments. Unlike the current FASTag-based system, the GNSS system takes into account the total distance travelled on a highway. So it is going to be very economical also,” Tecsidel India Pvt Ltd CEO Sinha said, adding the GNSS-based toll system will also reduce waiting time on highways.“Earlier, the waiting time at toll plazas was more than eight minutes but with the introduction of FASTags, it was reduced to within 50 seconds. Now with the new system, the vehicles will not be required to stop or slow down for paying tolls,” Sinha said, adding it will also help travellers to get rid of constant recharge of their FASTags.Talking exclusively with TOI, company sales head Vishal Darad said if the new system is implemented, all vehicle makers will be directed to make GPS-fitted vehicles. “The GPS will help track the exact distance a vehicle covers on the highways. For example, if a vehicle runs only 80km on a 180-km highway, it will have to pay the charge for only 80km. In FASTag, the drivers have to pay for the entire stretch of the highway,” he said.He added the vehicle makers would be told to fit the GPS in such a way that it can neither be removed nor dismantled. “If any driver tries to manipulate or tamper with the GPS, the vehicle will stop running,” he said, adding the new system will also help monitor the violators. “There will be high shutter speed camera installed on the highways to capture the number plate of the vehicles running at a very high speed, say more than 200km per hour,” Darad said.On the way of payment, he said the moment a vehicle crosses the GNSS-installed system, the banks, which have tie-up with the system, will cut the amount automatically.