Toll Booths To Be Removed Within One Year: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Toll booths will be removed and GPS-based toll collection will be implemented within one year, said Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport and Highways Minister on Thursday.

Speaking during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, he said 93 per cent of the vehicles pay toll using FASTag, but the remaining 7 per cent have still not taken it despite paying a double toll. He stated that within one year all physical toll booths in the country will be removed and toll collection will happen only via GPS. The money will be collected based on GPS imaging, he said. The Minister said new vehicles have FasTags fitted in them and the Government has said it will give free FASTags for old vehicles.

The Minister said that the Government has called for police inquiry on those vehicles, which do not pay toll using FASTags. There are cases of toll theft and GST evasion cases if FASTags are not fitted in vehicles, he explained.

The government has made the use of FASTag mandatory across all toll plazas on the National Highway network from February 15 (Monday) midnight. Vehicles not fitted with them will have to pay double the toll charges.

As per National Highway Fee Rules 2008, any vehicle not fitted with FASTag or any vehicle without valid, functional FASTag entering into the FASTag lane of the fee plaza shall pay a fee equivalent to two times the fee applicable to that category. The government had earlier made FASTags mandatory for motor vehicles from January 1 but deferred it to February 15. The ministry also sought support from all enforcement agencies across states to implement the mandatory use of FASTag.

Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane said that the usage of FASTag has led to a reduction in waiting for time, fuel consumption and pollution at toll plazas. Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had decided to do away with the minimum balance requirement in FASTag wallets.

With more than 2.54 crore users, FASTag contributes 80% of the total toll collection. According to the NHAI, two crore eligible vehicles including four-wheelers and bigger vehicles are yet to be fitted with FASTags.