Team-BHP - Electronic Toll Collection in Mumbai

This sounds like a maximalist idea. The government wants to milk public for all its worth. IMO, the idea of a prepaid monthly pass that allows people to pass as many times as needed in a month is a far better idea. Of course the government looses out if people pass multiple times in a day. But then they can always price these passes a little higher.

With these cards people will grow suspicious. And is the wont of such ideas complains may start pouring in about overcharging, faulty billing etc. And a nice scheme like this one has the potential to fall flat even before it takes off.

Sorry to bump into an old thread, but found it better than creating a new one as it addresses the same thing.

Y'day renewed the monthly toll charges at Mulund toll on Eastern Express highway and was handed over a pamplet by the toll guys. The pamplet talks about the MSRDC introducing a smart card for the monthly toll passes starting from December 2012 for the Vashi, Airoli, Mulund - EEH & LBS and Dahisar Toll plazas for which a refundable deposit of 60/- will be charged and the smart card can be brought at any toll plaza from the 26th to 30th of every month.

Although its not clear whether the smart card can be recharged online or again have to be visited to the toll plazas for renewing but atleast the line at the toll collection booths will be reduced (hopefully). Now that the monthly pass lanes at all the tolls have become virtually extinct, will buying a monthly pass be beneficial apart from the trouble of shelling out cash at the tolls every time you pass.

Finally the sealink has a prepaid option for toll collection. 100 trips for 4800 rupees, 50 trips for 2700 and 100 rupees for the sticker. This is valid for a year. At 48 rupees a trip (and 54 rupees for the 50 trip option), it works out to be 3 rupees more expensive than the return pass option. For the convenience it offers and the reduction in stray ten rupee coins and notes in my cupholders, the extra 3 rupees is worth it.

I used the monthly toll option on my previous car but didn't bother to get it done on my new car as the old system (1-31st) was inefficient. Even if you recharged on the 5th, it would only be valid till the 31st. That option is still there for 3,100.

Quote:

Originally Posted by djpeesh (Post 3865085)

Thanks, was hoping something like this would come up. Where can I get the sticker and pay the amount?

This month when I renewed the monthly pass, I was given an option to install the RFID sticker. When I agreed, the toll guys refused to hand it over to me and wanted to stick it personally. My car details were entered and I was requested to start accessing the ETC tag lane.

Although there are markings for the ETC tag lanes, these are actually guarded by the toll employee with the plastic barrier and they remove the barrier once they see the RFID tag. Once done, the scanner reads the RFID tag and opens the gate boom. But then this is not a dedicated lane as it merges with the cash paying lane too. So eventually you end up behind a few vehicles and spend those frustrating moments waiting.

The above is reference to the Mulund toll.

Whatever happened to the govt decision on waiving off the toll for the MH04, MH43 and MH46 cars which was due in Oct 2015 (after revised in July 2015).

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnabchak (Post 3941448)

Is there any difference in the cost of RFID and the normal sticker?
Also, what is the single toll cost for the month?

Thanks Arnab,

Doing good, hope you too.

There is no cost for the RFID tag, the same cost as the normal monthly toll sticker which is pasted on the card. The only advantage of having the RFID tag is you can access the ETC marked lane for quick pass through. However after having the tag for the past 3 months I can say its more of a pain than ease of passing. 60% of the times the camera does not work, 40% of the times the cable replacement is underway and almost 25% of the times the road is being paved. I would advise to continue with the normal sticker if you have taken the monthly toll. Getting past the toll in the rest of the lanes is far more quicker than the ETC lane at times during peak hours.

The cost for monthly toll only for Mulund toll is Rs 1165/- whereas it costs Rs 1400/- if you opt for a common toll exemption at all 5 Mumbai entry points.

A couple of contradicting news were seen in the newspapers recently. If one remembers there was a study being done to assess if the MEPL toll could be waived off completely for smaller vehicles. The first deadline was May 2015 when the toll was waived off for 50+ tolls in April 2015. The deadline was extended to July 2015, then to October 2015 and then there was no communication in this regards. Then there was an article which appeared in DNA paper on 23rd March 2016 which talked about a decision to be taken in April 2016. Then a contradicting article appeared in Times of India today which negated the hopes of thousands of Mumbaikars for toll free commute.

DNA news article 23rd March 2016

Quote:

The small vehicles owners will not get any immediate respite from toll taxes at five entry points of Mumbai and at Mumbai-Pune Expressway, as the decision to shut down these tolls or exempt small vehicles will be taken only after April 2016, clarified state public works department minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday.

In the state Legislative Council, Shinde said a committee has been formed to study the contracts signed with various toll-charging firms and provide some suggestions. "The committee, under the chairmanship of Sumit Malik, will submit its report by April end," he said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/repor...-april-2192840

TOI news article

Quote:

The state government is unlikely to waive the toll on the five entry points in the city and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Toll has been waived for light motor vehicles, and state transport and school buses at 53 toll nakas in the state .

A source said that if the government were to waive these six tolls, it would mean an additional annual burden of Rs 250-Rs 300 crore, which it cannot afford. "The new committee, under additional chief secretary Sumit Mullick, is expected to submit its report by April 30. By then we will have to think of something else," the source said. The government is debating whether former additional chief secretary Arvind Kulkarni's report on the toll waiver can be accepted or not as he did not sign it.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/51591331.cms

Whatever is the status, the state govt is not going to come up with a final decision for some time soon now. Guess political play has a major hand to play here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur (Post 3941533)

Whether toll or not, ETC is surely required across all MEP tolls. I've found the toll at Mulund/THane to be smoothest even at peak times and the one at Dahisar the most terrible. The toll at Vashi has been also a very good one.

It is pointless making roads like EEH, WEH or Sion-Panvel Expressway when the imaginary time saved (as compared to old days of traffic junctions) is again wasted waiting in queues along these tolls. I do not find the road quality on any of these roads or their maintenance good enough to justify these tolls. This money is probably not even used for upkeep of internal roads in Mumbai. Guess they can do very well even after exclusion of these tolls and octroi is enough of a revenue-earning stream for Mumbai. We are literally paying for the select flyovers that were constructed along these prime roads years or decades ago!! It is interesting to note how long these reports are taking! Looks like, politicians and their parties do not want to lose out on one of their cash cows aka MEP tolls.

In case of Dahisar toll, what adds to the complexity is the immediate flyover and signal on Mumbai side and a complicated network of signals and faultily designed service lanes on Mira Road side. Even after the toll is crossed, one has to wait in the long Mira Road traffic...

I recently drove on a Saturday evening from Lokhandwala Township, Kandivali to Hypercity Mall along Ghodbunder Road in Thane. It took me a good 1.5 hours to reach of which 60 minutes were spent to cross 6 kms before Dahisar toll!!! FOr the first time I saw my Punto returning crass FE number of ~7 km/l for a trip... This one toll stops traffic all along WEH during peak hours. And you can't switch off ignition in such crawling traffic. Imagine sitting in your parking lot with ignition and AC on idling for a long time, and the damage that can do to your car. Close to that is what these excellent bottlenecks of tolls are doing...

For easy pick-up of initiatives like FASTag, if all these tolls are equipped with the same, I see the adoption rates and traffic time would also reduce significantly.

An update:

received an SMS from MEP infrastructure who operate the 5 entry toll of Mumbai that they have started the online renewing of the monthly toll using either Debit or credit card. The link is below:

http://epay.mepinfra.com

1) Enter the car details (The captcha is unique in the sense no more entering the characters).

2) Select the toll. Note that you will need to have a RFID sticker pasted at the toll before you can choose.

3) Enter the OTP sent to the registered mobile (again during the ETC tag/RFID sticker process).

4)Once verified, takes you to the screen where the payment amount and other details are visible. In my case a message flashed that I had already paid for the month of April 2016 and next recharge will be post 25th April 2016. Hence I could not see the Pay option but should be visible after 25th (my guess).

5) Payment by Credit or debit card or net banking. Details below as seen on the screen.

Quote:

After selecting appropriate mode of payment Citrus Pay will charge convenience fee as follows:-

Debit Card – 0.75% for amount < Rs 2000/- and 1% for amount > Rs 2000/-, Credit Card – 0.9% .

Net Banking – Rs 5.50/- per transaction.

(All above mode of payments will attract a service tax of 14.5% on the convenience fee charged by Citrus).

Advantages:
1) Faster payment process
2) No need to stand in line at the toll booth
3) No need to carry cash

Disadvantages:
1) Amount charged will be for monthly toll. Any change of routine will result in loss (Eg if only 15 days are expected of travel through the tolls)
2) The site is not secure. Its not https.

All in all its a good initiative by the toll operator although everyone loathes to pay the toll and the frustrating times while crossing the toll.