Toll technology update

Fretting at toll plazas may be a thing of the past in less than two years. In a path-breaking move, the highways ministry agreed to introduce a single chip (an intelligent tag), which provides a uniform inter-operable electronic toll collection (ETC) system. It would allow commuters to zip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari without stopping to pay the user fee at toll plazas. The technology, which will be used at all toll plazas on National Highways, has been recommended by a committee, headed by chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani. The adoption of this technology, expected to be operational by May 2012, is likely to address delays and congestion at toll collection points, besides plugging the nearly Rs 300 crore annual revenue leakage of the NHAI. The Nilekani committee recommended adopting the passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology of ETC, now in use in South America and Georgia (the US). Nilekani said the committee found this technology to be cheap and requiring low maintenance. “We also have multiple vendors to supply these tags. The government will decide on this and empanel the suppliers,” he added. The committee claimed that the cost of the passive RFID tag for the vehicle owner was only about Rs 100 per tag and about Rs 2 lakh per reader as compared to other technologies, which cost Rs 1,000-2,000 for the onboard unit and Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for the reader. It further said the device was simple to install as it could be stuck on the windscreen of a vehicle. The newtechnology will identify the vehicles automatically and classify them. Once the vehicle is identified, the user charges will be deducted directly from the tag. To make the buying of tags and recharging easy, the committee suggested the government adopt a plan similar to that of pre-paid mobile phone recharge coupons. “Road users can buy/top-up tags at a network of designated locations. To manage the financial transactions relating to toll collection (recharging, toll debiting and payment to the toll concessionaires), a Central Toll Clearing House has been proposed. Tag holders will be able to find out their account details through the web, email and mobile phones,” a NHAI official said.