Govt mulls monthly, yearly toll passes for passenger vehicles: Gadkari

New Delhi, Jan 15: The government is contemplating introducing monthly and yearly passes in lieu of toll collection for private vehicles on National Highways as they account for only 26 per cent of total realisation, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

Addressing an event here, Gadkari also said the toll collection booth will be set up outside villages so that it may not disturb the movement of villagers.

The minister said, “74 per cent of toll revenue comes from commercial vehicles. We are considering introducing monthly or annual passes for private vehicles.” Private vehicles account for only 26 per cent of total toll collection, so the government would not suffer any losses, he added.

The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has decided to initially implement a barrier-less global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based toll collection system on national highways as an added facility along with FASTag, Gadkari said.

“Global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based toll collection system will be better than current toll collection system,” the minister added.

Last year in July, Gadkari said a pilot study with regard to the GNSS-based user fee collection system has been done on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and the Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.

The move is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and charging motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways.

During 2018-19, the average waiting time for vehicles at toll plaza was 8 minutes. With the introduction of FASTags during 2020-21 and 2021-22, the average waiting time of the vehicles was reduced to 47 seconds.

KEY POINTS:

Private vehicles contribute only 26% of total toll revenue

Commercial vehicles account for 74% of toll collections

New toll booths to be relocated outside village boundaries

GNSS-based barrier-less toll system to complement FASTag

Pilot studies completed on:

- Bengaluru-Mysore NH-275

- Panipat-Hisar NH-709

• FASTag Impact:

- 2018-19: 8-minute average wait time

- 2020-22: Reduced to 47 seconds

Peak hour delays still persist in urban areas