Electronic collection at toll plazas hits Internet hurdle 

Efforts of the officials of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to introduce electronic toll collection (ETC) to avoid waiting time for vehicles while crossing toll plazas is facing delay as it
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IJAYAWADA: Efforts of the officials of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to introduce electronic toll collection (ETC) to avoid waiting time for vehicles while crossing toll plazas is facing delay as it is encountering initial hiccups.Technical snag while providing continuous internet connection to toll plazas are among the main obstacles in the implementation of the ETC.

Under the existing toll fee payment system, every vehicle (except two-wheelers and three-wheelers) will have to stop at toll plazas for a while and proceed after payment of toll fee. This is resulting in a waste of time and also causing traffic disruption during peak hours. Against such backdrop, authorities of the NHAI embarked on introducing the ETC, which is being successfully implemented in various foreign countries as well as in some states in India.


Under the ETC, the vehicle owners will have to arrange a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, which will ensure that when a vehicle passes the toll plazas, it can maintain a speed up to 40 kms per hour and cross the toll plaza. The toll amount will automatically be deducted from the prepaid RFID card as the sensors connected to the internet at toll booths will identify the vehicles. The RFID will be fixed over the front glass of the vehicle and the sensors will easily capture it and the amount will be deducted automatically.


The RFID facility will ensure movement of vehicles without having to wait at check posts besides helping in the digital payment of toll tax. Officials inplementing the ETC  are doing so on a pilot-basis at 3 toll plazas in the State. However, establishing a proper network has come as an obstacle for smooth implementation of ETC and owners of toll plazas are complaining to officials of NHAI that they are incurring losses with this system.


“Out of all the 26 toll plazas existing in the State, we are implementing the ETC on an experimental basis at Khaja toll plaza between Vijayawada and Guntur, as well as toll plazas at Tangutur in Prakasam district and another one in Anantapur district. Two lines, one each on each of the roads, have been set aside for RFID vehicles. However, owners of toll plazas said that they are facing losses due to non-functioning of internet, which is crucial in ETC,” said an official of NHAI.He said that vehicle users are getting too smart to hoodwink the plazas resulting in losses. One takes RFID for a car for about `100 for crossing the toll plaza. But, there are instances where RFIDs taken for cars are pasted on trucks, which have to pay toll tax of `500. 

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