Coming soon: Pay-as-you-use GPS toll on Delhi-Mumbai highway

This pilot project will look at ways to integrate the new solution with the existing pre-paid wallet account offered by NHAI under the FASTag programme

With the aim to execute "pay as you use" tolling in India, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will start a pilot project on the Delhi-Mumbai Highway to study and implement the ability of the system in the country.

The project to be run for one year involves implementing a satellite-based electronic toll collection system running on GPS/GSM technology for around 500 commercial vehicles on the Delhi-Mumbai National Highway.

"Working on a combination of mobile telecommunications technology (GSM) and the satellite-based Global Positioning System, the proposed tolling system would be able to deduct money from a vehicle account, credit the money to the concessionaire within one day and open the toll gate," according to the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.

However, in case of a failed transaction, it would be able to alert the toll operator to collect payment manually and not open the gate.

According to the ministry, the pilot project will look at ways to integrate the new solution with the existing pre-paid wallet account offered by NHAI under the FASTag programme.

"It will also draw a comparison between distance-based tolling and the existing tolling system, as also virtual tolling versus normal tolling. The request for proposal (RFP) for the project was floated on January 25, 2018. The pre-bid meeting is on February 9 and the Bid Due Date is February 26, 2018," according to the ministry.