RFID system violation: EPCA to seek action against policemen

The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority on Thursday said it would write to the police chiefs of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana after some videos purportedly showed policemen allowing commercial vehicles to enter the city bypassing the RFID system at 13 toll plazas.

"The videos show policemen of Haryana and Delhi allowing commercial vehicles to enter the city through RFID-enabled toll plazas, without paying the toll tax and environment compensation charge (ECC)," EPCA chief Bhure Lal said.

Most of the violations occurred at the Rajokari, Ayanagar and Kondli borders, Lal said.

The Supreme Court-appointed EPCA will write to the police commissioners of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, asking them to take action against the policemen, he said.

The panel will also ask the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), the nodal agency for implementing the radio-frequency identification (RFID) project, to install CCTV cameras in free lanes to check such violations. Thereafter, commercial vehicles entering free lanes will be penalised, the EPCA chief said.

Implemented on August 24, the RFID system allows automatic collection of toll tax and ECC from commercial vehicles. It is aimed at reducing pollution by easing traffic congestions and plug revenue leakage by ensuring transparency.

The 13 busy border points receive around 85 per cent of the incoming traffic in Delhi. Plans are afoot to install the RFID system at 10 second-level toll booths through which an increasing number of commercial vehicles are entering Delhi and bypassing the automatic tax collection project, according to SDMC officials.