Government will unveil new policy on GPS-enabled toll system within 3 months: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (File image: Reuters)

The government will come out with a new policy, within the next three months, to replace toll plazas in the country with a GPS-based tracking toll system, Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said.

Speaking at CII's Annual Session on August 11, Gadkari said that while GPS-based tracking toll technology is not present in the country at the moment, his ministry is currently working on developing the technology in India.

Gadkari also urged road construction companies to reduce the use of cement and steel while making roads to limit the cost of road construction.

The road transport minister further said that steel and cement players are indulged in cartelisation in the country. He also asked consultants to come up with innovations to reduce cost and volume of cement and steel in construction of roads.

In March this year, Gadkari had announced that India will do away with toll booths and implement complete GPS-based toll collection within one year.

"I want to assure the House that within one year all physical toll booths in the country will be removed. It means that toll collection will happen via GPS. The money will be collected based on GPS imaging (on vehicles)," Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

Earlier in December 2020, Gadkari had said that the new GPS-based system will be introduced for toll collection with Russian expertise where toll amount will be deducted from the commuter's account or e-wallet on the basis of the distance traversed.

The minister had said that while the recent passenger and commercial vehicles come with the global positioning system (GPS), the government would look for a way to install it in the old vehicles as well.

India also has an electronic toll collection system FASTag, operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Under the system, FASTag is affixed on the windscreen of vehicles and they do not have to stop at toll gates as charges are deducted from the prepaid or bank account when the vehicle is passing through.