No toll booths, GPS-based collection in 1 yr: Gadkari

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 18

India will do away with toll booths and implement complete GPS-based toll collection within one year, said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today. He said 93 per cent of the vehicles pay toll using FASTag, but the remaining 7 per cent had still not adopted it despite paying double the toll.

“I want to assure the House that within one year, all physical toll booths in the country will be removed. It means toll collection will happen via the global positioning system (GPS). The money will be collected based on GPS imaging of the vehicle,” he said during the question hour. He had directed police inquiry of those vehicles which do not pay toll using FASTags. FASTag, which facilitates e-payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016.

Making the tags compulsory would also help in ensuring that vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas, as the fee payment would be done electronically, he added.

5% rebate to car buyers on scrapping old ones

• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari unveiled the proposed “Vehicle Scrappage Policy” in Parliament on Thursday
• It provides for strong incentives to owners opting for scrapping their old and unfit vehicles
• These include 4-6% of ex-showroom price of new vehicle by registered scrapping centres, up to 25% rebate in road tax by states & 5% discount by manufacturers
• Rules for vehicle fitness test and scrapping centres likely to be applicable from October 1, 2021, while scrapping of government and PSU vehicles older than 15 years will be from April 1, 2022