Delhi-Meerut Expressway to be India's first toll plaza free highway

Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which was opened for the public on Thursday, will be the first toll plaza free highway in the country.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will deploy automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cum FASTag-based multi-lane free-flow tolling system. The system will use high-definition cameras to read the number plate and automatically deduct the toll amount from the FASTag.

The NHAI is testing the linking of automatic number plate readers (ANPR) to the FASTag system. Once the testing is completed, the NHAI will start the system on a pilot basis, said an official in the Authority.

Once the pilot succeeded, the same can be implemented on other highways also said the official.

In the new system, there will be no toll plazas to collect road users' charges from vehicles. Instead, ANPR will be installed in the entry and exit of the roads and it will read the number plate of the vehicles and deduct the charges. The advantage of the new system will be where vehicles need not stop or slow down to pay toll charges, said the official.

The new system is also called a closed tolling system. According to this, once the system is established, vehicle users have to pay for the kilometres travelled rather than paying for the entire stretch. However, the company, which authorised to collect toll charges, will set up check posts near entry and exit gates to monitor if vehicles are using the toll corridors even without having FASTag wallets.

Earlier, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government will remove all toll booths and implement complete GPS-based toll collection within one year.

The toll collection also increased ever since the Union Road Transport Ministry announced that from February 16, vehicles without FASTag are required to pay double toll fees at electronic toll plazas across the country.

At present 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. The FASTag system is helping it mop up more than Rs 100 crore every day, said the official