Driving short distances on National Highways (NHs) will soon invite no tolls even if there is a payment collection booth in between as a notification from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Tuesday said that owners of private vehicles equipped with a functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will not be charged any amount for travelling up to 20 km on highways and expressways per day.
Under the new notification, called as National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2024, toll fees will only be charged on the actual distance travelled if the distance exceeds 20 kilometres.
“A driver, owner or person in charge of a mechanical vehicle other than a National Permit vehicle who makes use of the same section of the national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel, as the case may be, shall be levied a zero-user fee upto 20 kilometres of a journey in each direction in a day under Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system,” the notification said.
The new rule will be beneficial especially for those who makes use of a short stretch of a national highway on a daily basis
GNSS to replace FASTag toll system
The road ministry in July had said that it will initially implement a GNSS-based toll collection system at select national highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that a pilot study with regard to a GNSS-based user fee collection system has been done on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.
The GNSS will be based on a navigation satellite system. It will come with a Satellite-based unit, which will be installed in the vehicles. This will allow the concerned authority to track cars once they start using the toll highway.
When the vehicle exits from the tolled road, the system will calculate the actual usage of the toll road, and deduct a precise amount automatically. This will ensure the travellers only pay the amount for the distance covered on the toll highway.
The upcoming toll collection system will allow customers to pay the exact amount for the usage of the toll road. The consumers will able to save a decent amount of money on every trip. It will also terminate the traditional toll booths, giving a big relief from the long queues and allowing the drivers to have a more convenient travelling experience.
Once getting the green signal from the top official, the new toll collection system will roll out in phases, covering the top highways that connect major cities in India.
(With inputs from agencies)
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