Government Considering Monthly Or Yearly Pass For Vehicles Traveling On National Highways: Nitin Gadkari

Fasttag and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), there has been talks of a upgradation on both the fronts and this new idea looks like one of them. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, while addressing the Roundtable Conference on Barrier Less Tolling, said that the government was considering the introduction of monthly and yearly passes to collect toll for private vehicles on National Highways. He stated that private vehicles contribute to only 26 percent of the total collections.

The minister said “74 per cent of toll revenue comes from commercial vehicles. We are considering introducing monthly or annual passes for private vehicles."

A pilot study was conducted last year in July for the GNSS-based user fee collection system in Karnataka and Haryana. Gadkari said that GNSS will be better than the current toll collection system. 

The move to introduce a monthly or yearly pass for private vehicles is a way to decongest toll nakas where according to the minister, after the introduction of fasttag, the wait time has come down from 8 minutes to 47 seconds per vehicle. 

With GNSS, the commuters will be charged commuters for the exact distance travelled on the highways, which means a no stop journey on national highways.