The Centre has announced free travel for owners of private vehicles on highways and expressways but with one condition. This will apply to private vehicles equipped with a functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). They will not be charged any amount for travelling up to 20 km per day.
In July this year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had said it has decided to initially implement a GNSS-based toll collection system at select national highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag.
What is GPS-based toll system or GNSS?
The GPS-based toll system leverages satellites and in-car tracking systems to calculate tolls based on the distance travelled. It uses satellite-based tracking and GPS technology to charge tolls according to the distance a vehicle covers. This helps eliminate the need for physical toll plazas and reduces wait times for drivers.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Tuesday amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. Under the new regulations, known as the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2024, fees will now be charged on the actual distance travelled if the distance exceeds 20 kilometres.
"A driver, owner or person in charge of a mechanical vehicle other than a National Permit vehicle who makes use of the same section of the national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel, as the case may be, shall be levied a zero-user fee upto 20 kilometres of a journey in each direction in a day under Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system," the notification said.
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Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that a pilot study with regard to a GNSS-based user fee collection system has been done on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.
Gadkari had said a stakeholder consultation through an international workshop was organised on June 25, 2024, and global expression of interest (EOI) was invited for wider industrial consultation on June 7, 2024, with the last date of submission as July 22, 2024.
(With inputs from PTI)
