New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that the current toll collection system will be completely abolished within a year. This system will be replaced by an electronic system. He said that this will give the highway users a hassle-free travel experience. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari made this important announcement during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. He also said that this new system has currently been tested at 10 places and within a year it will be implemented in the entire country.

He clarified, "This toll system will end. No one will stop you in the name of toll. Within a year, electronic toll collection will be implemented in the entire country." Apart from this, Gadkari also told the House that 4,500 highway projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore are currently underway in the country.

FASTag system will be further improved

To further improve toll collection on the country's highways, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme. It is a unified and interoperable platform for electronic toll payment.

The basis of NETC is FASTag. This device is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and is installed on the windshield of the vehicle. This system helps in automatically deducting the toll amount from the user's linked account without stopping the vehicle at the toll plaza. The aim of the central government is to spread this technology across the country.