Barrier-free tolling has been proposed for a seamless tolling experience on national highways. It will enhance the efficiency and transparency of toll operations, as per the government. Barrier-free tolling, as proposed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for further lowering of the wait time at the highway tolls, will become a reality by the financial year 2028-29, the Economic Survey 2024-25 reads.
Officially referred to as GNSS-based electronic toll collection, the process is scheduled first on all four-lane-plus highways and high-speed corridors, the report said, which was published on Friday. The government has aimed for the rollout of barrier-free tolling on all four-lane plus NHs and high-speed corridors by FY29,” the report said.
Last year, the ministry invited global expressions of interest from innovative and qualified companies to develop and implement satellite-based electronic toll collection in India. Barrier-free tolling has been proposed for a seamless tolling experience on national highways. It will enhance the efficiency and transparency of toll operations, as per the ministry.
Road transport generates the highest GVA in transport services. In FY23, road transport accounted for 78 per cent of the total GVA in transport services. Improving user convenience on national highways is at the heart of the growth in road transport,” the report said.
In this direction, it added, the government has moved from traditional ways of tolling to digitised tolling by adopting electronic toll collection through FASTag. This has reduced the average waiting time at toll plazas from 734 seconds to 47 seconds.
The country has, in the recent past, mainly focused on establishing high-speed corridors and multi-laned highways. Between 2014 and 2024, the length of high-speed corridors increased from 93 km to 2,474 km within the last ten years.
In the said period, the national highways that have four lanes and above, except for high-speed corridors, lengthened from nearly 18,300 km to 45,900 km. The country has a 63.4 lakh km road network, which includes a 1,46,195 km national highway network.
