Zero Toll Tax for Private Cars : Indian Govt. Ammends

The Central government amended a new rule for highways and Expressways. This will be achieved with the help of new technology at the toll Plaza and in the car similar to that of FastTag. To ease the cost of travel for private vehicles on short routes and reduce the congestion at toll tax plazas.

With people opting to settle beyond city limits and villages nearby toll plazas, to and fro travel on short routes was a costly affair for private vehicle owners leading to quarrels and wastage of time.

Now, As per the revised rules, private vehicles equipped with a functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will enjoy zero toll charges for journeys of up to 20 km per day on highways. If the journey exceeds 20 km, the toll tax will be calculated based on the distance traveled by the vehicle.

The official notification from the ministry states, “A driver, owner, or person in charge of a mechanical vehicle other than a National Permit vehicle which 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 toll tax up to 20 kilometers of a journey in each direction in a day under the Global Navigation Satellite System-based user toll tax collection system.”

Further on toll tax

The notification further read “Provided also that exclusive lane can be earmarked for Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit fitted vehicle and in case vehicle enters such lane, without a valid, functional Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit, shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the user toll tax applicable at that toll plaza.”

History of GNSS

The GNSS-based toll collection has been under consideration for some time now. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had previously launched a pilot project to test this system in conjunction with the existing FASTag toll collection method.

By leveraging advanced GNSS technology, the government aims to improve toll tax collection efficiency, minimize bottlenecks at toll plazas, and provide road users a more seamless travel experience.

What is GNSS?

A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is a network of satellites broadcasting timing and orbital information used for navigation and positioning measurements. Our Introduction to GNSS webinar series goes into more detail about how GNSS works, but a simplified version is that satellites transmit signals that report where they are at what time, with that information being used to determine where you are in the world. Through a complex series of trilateration calculations, your technology computes your location based on your position in relation to at least four satellites.

GNSS are more than the satellites orbiting Earth. The multiple groups of satellites, known as constellations, broadcast signals to master control stations and users of GNSS across the planet.

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