Chandigarh, January 16, 2025 : Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, stated on Wednesday that the government is considering implementing monthly and annual passes for private vehicles on national highways instead of collecting tolls, as private vehicles contribute only 26% of the total toll collection. While addressing a program, Gadkari mentioned that toll booths will be set up outside villages to avoid any disruption to villagers’ commute. He added that 74% of toll revenue comes from commercial vehicles, and there would be no loss to the government by introducing passes for private vehicles.
Gadkari further explained that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways plans to introduce a toll collection system based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in addition to FASTag, which will be an improvement over the current system.
Last July, Gadkari mentioned that a pilot study was conducted on GNSS-based user charging for the Bengaluru-Mysuru section of National Highway (NH)-275 in Karnataka and the Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.
The goal of this initiative is to reduce traffic congestion and implement charging based on the exact distance traveled on highways. During the financial year 2018-19, the average waiting time at toll plazas for vehicles was eight minutes. With the introduction of FASTag, the average waiting time reduced to 47 seconds during the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22. Although there has been significant improvement in waiting times, especially in densely populated areas near cities, there is still some delay at toll plazas during peak hours.
Summary: A pilot study for GNSS-based user charging was conducted on select highways. FASTag reduced average waiting times at toll plazas, though delays persist during peak hours.