Centre to replace toll plazas with number plate reading cameras to levy tolls

New Delhi: The Union government is working to bring a camera sensed toll collection system across India's national highway, a project that aims to remove toll plazas.

Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari was quoted by The Indian Express as saying the new system is made to deduct the specified tolls from vehicle owners' linked bank accounts when the vehicles cross automatic number plate reader cameras that will be installed across the national highways.

Gadkari said that the intention behind installing number plate reading cameras is to remove toll plazas and hassles they are creating on the highways. A pilot programme of this scheme is also running, the Minister said adding that there need to be some amendments in the related existing laws to make the scheme fully operational.

Along the Bill that to make amendments to meet the requirements is cleared the owners of the car that do not have these number plates will be given a certain time to install the number plates, said Gadkari.

Currently, about 97 per cent of the total toll collection of nearly Rs 40,000 crore happens through FASTags — the remaining 3 per cent pay higher than normal toll rates for not using FASTags, according to TIE.

Though the introduction of FASTags at toll plazas eased the traffic congestion to a greater extent, there are still issues such as poor network connections, wear-and-tear of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader and tag; and improper affixation of FASTags, which create hurdles for transport.

With the use of the number plate reader cameras, also known as Automatic Number Plate Reader (ANPR) cameras, the congestion at toll plazas is likely to reduce further, but much would depend on the implementation of the system.