Elections Over, Toll Charges Will Go Up Now
Elections Over! Get Ready To Pay More Toll As Toll Charges Increase At 1,100 Booths
Lok Sabha election results will be declared on 4 June 2024. After the results are declared, India will hike the toll charges across the country. The rise in the price of toll charges was put on hold in April when the elections were announced. We are expected to see a hike of 3-5 percent at around 1,100 toll plazas across the country starting today.
Toll charges in India are revised annually after considering inflation. The highway operators publish notices in local newspapers to inform the general public. A senior official at the National Highway Authorities of India said, “As the election process is over, the revision of user fee (toll) rates, which was put on hold during the elections, will become effective from June 3.”
The official explained that the hike in the price of toll charges and the taxation of fuel products help fund the expansion of national highways. While some people feel this is necessary, there is another side to this story. Many political parties and leaders in the opposition believe that this move by the authorities will increase the burden on the common man, as it will affect the price of commodities in the market by increasing transportation costs.
In the last decade, we have seen a rise in the number of highways, and many existing highways are being widened. All this is being done to make traveling by road more efficient and convenient. We have bypasses built around several cities to help reduce traffic. India has invested billions of dollars in such highway expansion projects. With a total length of 1.46 lakh km, it is the world’s second-largest road network.
According to reports, highway toll plaza operators like IRB Infrastructure Developers and Ashok Buildcon Ltd are expected to benefit from these revised toll charges. It should be noted that the Fastag was made compulsory for all cars and other vehicles that use the highway. If your vehicle doesn’t have a Fastag, you have to pay double the amount in cash at the toll plaza.
Nitin Gadkari, who is currently the Union Minister for Transport and Highways, recently announced his plans to revolutionize toll collection in India by introducing a satellite-based system, or GPS toll. Instead of the current method, where toll fees are directly deducted from bank accounts through Fastag, the new system will calculate charges based on the distance traveled on the highway using a GPS-based system.
Minister Gadkari pointed out the benefits of this system, such as reduced travel time and fuel consumption. The GPS toll collection system replaces the traditional toll booth and uses cameras equipped with automatic license plate reading technology installed along highways. The cameras and the GPS in your vehicle work together to determine the distance and toll charges.
When a vehicle enters and exits a tolled section, the system reads the number plate and uses the GPS data to calculate the distance it traveled. This distance determines the toll amount, which is then automatically deducted from the pre-registered bank account linked to the license plate of the vehicle.