[lancia_fanboy]

In a recent interview given by Gadkari to Shekhar Gupta on the print, he talk about that the new system will have cameras that'll take photos of number plates and then accordingly deduct the amount from the system

Here's the link for the video -

https://youtu.be/-HzJSbaJCBE?t=3023

The timestamp if it doesn't work correctly is 50:23

[ysjoy]

An update:

FASTag system to end soon
The pilot project of the new toll system is being tested in India. The amount of toll is charged according to the number of kilometres the vehicle travels on the highway. Due to the success of this procedure in European countries, preparations are being made to implement it in India as well.

Not much of specifics yet, though!

The government is preparing to bring a new system of toll collection by abolishing the FASTag system . Now the central government is planning to collect toll tax using the satellite navigation system. According to sources the new system is already being tested as a pilot project in India.

In this system, the toll has to be paid according to the number of kilometres the vehicle travels on the highway. Under the new system the more kilometres you drive on the highway or expressway, the more toll will be charged.

The pilot project of the new toll system is being tested in India. The amount of toll is charged according to the number of kilometres the vehicle travels on the highway. Due to the success of this procedure in European countries, preparations are being made to implement it in India as well.

At present, the entire amount of the distance from one toll to another toll is collected from the vehicles. Even if you are not going there and your journey is being completed somewhere in the middle, but the toll has to be paid in full.
Almost all vehicles (98.8 percent) in Germany have satellite navigation systems installed. The tax calculation starts as soon as the vehicle enters the tolled road. As soon as the vehicle moves from the highway to the road without toll, the toll of that kilometer is deducted from the account. The system for deducting toll is the same as that of FASTag. At present, toll is being charged from FASTag on 97 percent of vehicles in India.

Before carrying out the new system, it is necessary to change the transport policy as well. Experts are preparing the necessary points for this. 1.37 lakh vehicles have been covered across the country in the pilot project. A study report is being prepared by experts from Russia and South Korea. This report may be released in the next few weeks.

Source: The Statesman

[Sree73]

Now in most of the malls in Bangalore, the parking charge is collected through the Fastag.
The GPS based toll collection is an ambitious project and will take time to get implemented and stabilized.

I think the Fastag is going to remain in the system for atleast one decade more.

[Turbohead]

Is this really required at this stage? We would've just reached 90% Fastag adoption and ideally it should only be improved. Why can't they install Fastag readers at the entry and exit points of highways? If we go with the GPS system, we'll be forced to install these satellite systems at our expense.

What are we trying to achieve with all this? The whole point of toll roads was to collect cash to maintain and build new roads. They're not even maintaining the existing tolled highways properly but they want to find new ways to tax us.

[ecenandu]

What about data privacy in such a system? The GPS solution for toll collection is intrusion to privacy.

[bejoy]

Very ambitious project, I would say, at the time when the Fastag system has become mostly mature. If they indeed go ahead with it, we have to go through the same pain we encountered during the Fastag implementation. Pay per usage looks good in paper, but at what cost? The user need to pay for an On Board Unit (OBU) - one more device for connected to a 12V socket! The scale may bring down the cost, and likely India will go with Navic (IRNSS) for satellite positioning receiver, meaning the chip companies will benefit. But the kind of infrastructure needed for the road side monitors will be huge. The existing booths may not go off, rather will become enforcement booths. So bottlenecks will still be there.

One thing is certain - Govt realized that there is massive revenue potential from the tolls, once the local operators are removed, and they will milk it even more. I doubt the road users will benefit much.

From the news, it seems the Govt is implementing similar to the Russian Platon Toll system, mainly targeted for the truckers.

[Sran]

So on 3rd of this month, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of RToH stated in Rajyasabha that government is very soon going to implement either satellite based toll deduction (gps) or some new number plate will be installed on vehicles through manufacturers that will have some chip which will deduct the toll. The tolls will be deducted in per kilometre usage manner.

The government has started working on it and will finalise which system to implement between those two mentioned above and it may happen as soon as next month.

This is some next level trolling by MoRTH. We pay so much money and now even privacy will be at risk through constant monitoring. Maybe just out of spite I'll use bus and train so that nobody knows where I am going.

[batish]

Just when we get our population to adapt one system, MoRTH decides to bring a new one. Why can't they just work with the Fastag itself? Just like speed violation cameras, install fastag readers at exit/entry points.

What I think is, they are planning to charge for highways which are in cities itself. Example would be using the Delhi-Jaipur highway when you're in Gurgaon. So when you enter the highway it starts calculating the toll, and when you exit after 1 km, it charges for that 1 km.

Mind you, this would be after paying the Road Tax. Although this is my assumption, but with the debt NHAI has, they can do it.

What next Mr Gadkari, installing tyre sensors which tell how many times a wheel has revolved and tax accordingly?

[mygodbole]

Ease off the accelerator, friends. Proposal in Parliament is not equal to 'on road' implementation.

Fastag introduced the concept of paying for road usage. Road tax is levied by states for driving on the majority of roads, including, and especially, city roads, used by the majority of vehicle owners. Different strokes.

Minister was just saying doing away with toll booths, NOT toll. Like saying only gpay, no cash.

Privacy issues are there, but that is the price for (trying to live in?) a 'civilised' society. The moment any vehicle is purchased, there is a whole lot of paperwork, that includes PAN and Aadhar. Anyone questions the need for PAN or Aadhar there?

Mods, I may be infringing the rules here, but India is the land of Jugaad. I am certain there will be jugaad utilisation here too. Please remove if breaching Team-BHP rules.

I am OK with all the above, since my privacy is already compromised as far as the government is concerned. The government already has 1: Car number; 2: Owner name/Aadhar/PAN; 3: Mobile number (linked to Aadhar/PAN) where the GPS tracking is mostly alive, unless you turn it off (not sure if that works). I found out when I looked up google maps > recent history and found that it kept track of everywhere my phone had been.

Privacy? 20th century idea. Not 'legally relevant' in 2022.

[Linuskm]

I think the government should reevaluate which highways need to be without tolls, it's insane that the government rakes in huge monies with taxes, registration etc and still is not able to provide roads and infrastructure which contributes to growth of nation to its citizens.

I recently read an article where it mentioned government earning 18 lacs for every fortuner sold. Unfortunately cars above certain price are labelled with sin tax then why are all the government officials purchasing and plying in these "sin" taxed vehicles.

Recently I travelled on a highway adjoining highway which was a toll road, guess what there were more number of two and three wheelers plying without following lane system and jumping lanes at their will, I was driving at 30km/gr speed on this toll highway for almost 10 kms.

Likewise there a many issues in India where I see lack of accountability and wastage of resources.

I know that we tax paying professionals do not count as vote bank and we will not be heard but still we ought to raise our voice.

[Surya1]

Basically government is pulling in ideas from other places. Here in Poland they launched last year this etoll(gps based) system, but only on few sections of highway. You need to have that app running in background, with phone tracking your location(etoll app should have permission to access gps obviously) all the way to deduct appropriate amount. Obviously they say the location data is anonymized, given EU GDPR law.
For privacy oriented people there is an option (I never used it though), to buy an etoll ticket in advance online, providing your car registration number, so no need to keep your location shared all along the journey.

Funny thing is some people don’t use that or forget to open the app, so they get away without paying anything, but it may lead to hefty fine if caught . Another pain point is you maybe a passenger and if your app is open it will deduct toll from your account . Now they launched this system to request back your incorrectly charged amount in such scenario. I am pretty sure it will be misused.

It’s anyone’s guess how it will be implemented in our country and policing around it.

[redcruiser]

With this GPS based system will the driver get e-challans every time you violate the speed limit?

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by ysjoy

An update:

Most stupid thing I've heard in a while. After making all citizens go through the hassle of acquiring FASTag (a royal pain back in the early years) and incorporating scanners and gaining some acceptance, do they want to scrap this system?

This kind of undoing of a national plan is done only by a change in the ruling party.

Also, systems like the NICE road (Bangalore) very recently got added to the FASTag system.

[karanddd]

In India we officially live in the dumbest timeline. Not related to this, but recently I read of a person's experience of trying to download their vaccination proof for their flight to India. Except the government website from which the proof can be download is geoblocked in other countries! What fantastic design. And even if you use a VPN (for something this basic), you need an OTP, which you may not recieve depending on your plan and provider.

Digital government services in India are garbage, and exist only to give another layer of power to the bureaucratic and ministerial class. This is another example of something that will be abused sooner or later.

[kochup]

One major change with Fastag was that majority of the people stopped keeping track of the amount of toll we pay because its transparent to the users, while there are options to check usage i doubt many people do that.

With a GPS based system, now road users will also have to be aware on what roads they are plying on ie whether its a SH, NH, tolled NH etc and also people are going to be charged for using toll roads even if its for 500 meters (pro-rated)

In short, the general direction is to stop using private vehicles.