Coming up, halt-free toll deduction at Dappar plaza

Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, February 19

To enable automatic deduction of toll charges from vehicle owners’ FASTag accounts near the Dappar toll plaza, a pilot project with sensors and cameras installed on overhead poles is underway.

Once operational, toll charges from vehicle owners with FASTag strips will be deducted automatically on the go. Vehicle owners will get a message on their registered mobile number for the amount of toll deducted from their FASTag account. It will save time, fuel, reduce traffic congestion and cut air and noise pollution.

A private enterprise has been assigned the task of collecting data at the new site for six months and match it with the corresponding data at the old toll plaza to finalise details.

The NHAI corporate relations officer, Deepak Arora, said, “It is a pilot project to see how automatic deduction from the FASTag account of a vehicle owner will be successful. It will likely take two to three years before the system gets operational.”

“This electronic toll collection system uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. Overhead sensors read the FASTag strip on the windshield of a vehicle and generate an automatic deduction of a definite amount without requiring the vehicle to stop at the plaza. Sensors have an upper limit of vehicle moving at 120 km per hour,” Arora added.

“We will also work out the modalities for users, who commute on a short and not the entire stretch. Basically, it is a step forward in doing away with toll plazas in future. The number of installations and their location is yet to be finalised,” said Arora.