The government is preparing for major changes in the toll connection system on the national highways of the country. FASTag was introduced a few years ago to reduce the long queues of vehicles at toll booths on the highways. Now the government is working on another new technology. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has explained about this new system of toll collection. After the introduction of this system, the longer your vehicle runs on the highway, the more tax will be charged from you.
The Union Minister has told about this new toll collection system through his X handle. Nitin Gadkari said that this new toll connection system will be completely satellite based and it will be started soon. However, the Union Minister has not set any deadline for this at present.
How will the new technology work?
this new Satellite based toll collection Under the system, the longer you drive your vehicle on the highway, the more toll tax will be charged from you. This toll tax will be automatically deducted from your bank account. Nitin Gadkari had said last year in December 2024 that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will bring this new system in the beginning of 2024.
The satellite based toll collection system will replace the existing FASTag based electronic toll collection. Since the introduction of this digital system, the average waiting time at toll plazas has reduced from 714 seconds to 47 seconds. After the introduction of the new system, this waiting time will reduce even further. Besides, users will also save money. However, the Union Minister has not said anything about replacing FASTag.
How does FASTag work?
The FASTag system works on RFID i.e. Radio Frequency Identification, which collects toll by scanning the FASTag installed on the vehicle. The RFID scanner installed at the toll plaza collects toll by scanning the FASTag RFID installed on the vehicle. In this, users have to recharge their FASTag RFID from time to time or link it to their bank account.