Fastag system to end soon in India: GPS toll coming

After the gung-ho of FASTag system, the Indian government will soon make it obsolete. The union government is planning to roll out a GPS-based toll tax collection system. Nitin Gadkari, the minister of Road and Highway Transport, India had earlier talked about the GPS-based toll tax collection. It looks like the government will soon impose the new system.

The Statesman reports that the Indian government is already testing the system on the Indian highways. However, the exact place where the new system is working under a pilot project remains unknown.

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How will the new GPS-system work?

Under the GPS-based toll collection system, the customers will pay the toll according to the distance travelled on the highway. The new laws will charge tolls on a pro-rata basis. This means the more you use the highways, the higher amount of toll you will need to pay. Currently, the tolls are charged at the toll booths at a stepped price.

The system is already working in several European countries and it is quite successful as well. Due to the massive success, the Indian government is planning to implement a similar system on the Indian roads as well.

The GPS-based toll collection system starts recording the journey as soon as the car starts driving on the tolled road. It stops when the car exits. The user needs to pay the toll depending on the kilometres he has driven on the expressway.

Govt made FASTag mandatory

The Indian government made the FASTag mandatory in all vehicles. The government said that FASTag is a futuristic way to pay while driving the car. According to the officials, FASTag could have been used to pay at the fuel pumps and even parking lots. While we did see a couple of fuel pumps accepting FASTag payments, the idea did not become very popular.

NHAI officials said that the cash is a legal tender and is a legal mode of transaction, which is why they cannot deny the motorists to use the cash at all. However, the best approach to the problem is to strictly enforce the Motor Vehicle Rule, which has made FASTag mandatory in every new vehicle. The official also said that there is a significant increase in the number of transactions made by FASTag users in recent months and it is increasing too.

Currently, more than 97% of vehicles use FASTag to pay the tolls. The cars that do not have FASTag have to pay double the amount.

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