Soon, toll booths on big roads in India will disappear. India is getting ready for a new way to collect tolls.
Nitin Gadkari, a government minister, said that instead of toll booths, they’ll use satellites to collect tolls.
They’ll use GPS and cameras to do this. This new system is expected to start this summer. Right now, they are trying it out to see if it works.
With this new system, the money for tolls will be taken straight from the car owner’s bank account.
The toll cost will depend on how far the vehicle travels. They’ll figure this out using GPS. Right now, no matter how far you drive, tolls cost the same at every toll booth.
Last December, Gadkari said they’d start the new toll system by the end of this month. But because of election rules, they had to wait.
What did Nitin Gadkari say?
On Wednesday (March 27), Gadkari said the new toll system will save time and fuel. He said before it took 9 hours to drive from Mumbai to Pune, but now it’s only 2 hours.
This saves 7 hours of diesel. But we’ll have to pay a bit of money for this. We’re getting help from private investors, so we’ll have to pay them back too.
Gadkari already tested the new system in two places.
How are they collecting tolls now?
Right now, toll booths use something called Fastag. It’s a small device on your car.
Cameras at the booths read this device and charge you based on how far you’ve driven since the last toll booth. The money goes to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
What’s the new system like?
The new system wants to make toll collection better by using GPS to see how far each vehicle travels.
