Congestion Tax For Driving In Bangalore, Automatic Deduction From Fastag!

Bengaluru is a city that is infamous for its traffic congestions and the inconvenience that they bring along. The poor road conditions and traffic congestion of the place had recently made headlines as well. The Outer Ring Road area (ORR) is one of the city’s busiest corridors. Now, Bengaluru is preparing to implement a fix and ease things here. The government’s proposed 90-day action plan suggests rolling out a ‘congestion tax’ to curb traffic density in the ORR area during peak hours.

What Is The Proposed Congestion Tax In Bangalore?

The Congestion Tax intends to unclog Bengaluru roads by discouraging solo driving during peak hours. Cars with just one occupant (in other words, people who drive alone) will have to pay a small fee, the congestion tax, for using the road during peak traffic hours. Those with two or more occupants will stay unaffected by the move.

To make things smooth and seamless, the congestion tax will be deducted automatically through FASTag. This is expected to make the system seamless and enforcement easy. Rolling out this tax will push people toward shared mobility and increase the adoption of public transport.

At the time of writing this article, the concept of congestion tax is still under discussion. Officials are now considering the proposal. Detailed feasibility tests will be conducted before deciding on the actual implementation.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Bengaluru has considered a congestion tax. Back in 2023, a committee under Karnataka’s “Vision $1 Trillion Economy” plan suggested it on private vehicles entering the city during peak hours. Back then, the proposal covered nine arterial roads, including ORR, Hosur Road, Sarjapur Road, Ballari Road, Old Madras Road, Tumakuru Road, Bannerghatta Road, Mysuru Road, and Magadi Road.

As discussions progressed, it came to light that implementing this tax without strengthening public transport would only lead to backlash from commuters. Even today, the public transport infrastructure in many parts of the city needs improvement. The metro and suburban rail projects are still plagued by delays, bus services remain stretched, and footpaths are barely walkable in many areas.

However, if the authorities move forward with the tax implementation, it could bring about major improvements in the traffic conditions of the ORR area. The traffic here could be reduced, and the government could also start generating revenue.

Money collected from this tax will be used for implementing mobility improvements and funding future public transport projects.

Concerns And Roadblocks

Mobility experts say that Bengaluru’s weak public transport network, at present, may not be ready to absorb commuters pushed away from cars, by the policy. Citizens further argue that penalizing drivers without offering reliable alternatives is unfair. It is certain that the new move will cause major inconvenience to many.

There are technical and administrative hurdles as well. Authorities will need to first define and establish congestion zones and exemptions. Ways to ensure accurate tracking and enforcement will also need to be adopted. All of these would take time and effort. Needless to say, the move could also face political resistance from commuters.

Congestion Tax Needs To Pave Way For Car Pooling

The proposed tax clearly pushes people toward shared travel and carpooling. In a way, it makes much sense and can possibly decongest roads and busy corridors like the ORR. The space-starved nature of (some) Bengaluru roads limits the government’s ability to increase road capacity. This further highlights the need for the return of carpooling apps.

In previous crackdowns, the transport department had penalised some big names in the carpooling space for using private vehicles (White board vehicles) for pooled rides. Severe action was taken against owners of the vehicles involved as well. Policies and clauses of MV (Motor Vehicle) Act may need to be reworked (amended) before commuters can comfortably start using these, without getting into legal trouble.