News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Home  » News » Toll-free highway travel up to 20 km for private vehicles with GNSS

Toll-free highway travel up to 20 km for private vehicles with GNSS

Source: PTI   -  Edited By: Senjo M R
September 10, 2024 20:35 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Motorists using private vehicles with a functional global navigation satellite system will be allowed to travel toll-free on highways and expressways up to 20 km daily with effect from Tuesday, according to a government notification.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo
 

The ministry of road transport and highways amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, which has come to effect from Tuesday.

Under the new regulations, known as the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2024, fees will now 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 up to 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 highway ministry in July had said it decided to 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.

Gadkari had said a stakeholder consultation through an international workshop was organised on June 25, 2024, and global expression of interest was invited for wider industrial consultation on June 7, 2024, with the last date of submission as July 22, 2024.

NHAI plans to implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model wherein both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously.

Implementation of GNSS-based electronic toll collection in India will facilitate smooth movement of vehicles along the National Highways and is envisaged to provide several benefits to highway users such as barrier-less free-flow tolling leading to hassle-free riding experience and distance-based tolling where users will pay only for the stretch they have travelled on a national highway, the ministry said.

The GNSS-based collection will also result in more efficient toll collection as it helps to plug leakages and check toll evaders, it added.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI  -  Edited By: Senjo M R© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 
Battle for two states 2024

Battle for two states