Satellite-based toll collection system in India soon: How will it be different from FASTag?

The new satellite-based toll system will replace the existing toll collection system in India, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

In conversation with news agency ANI, he said that the money would be deducted from the bank account and the amount of distance you covered would be charged accordingly.

"Through this, time and money can be saved. Earlier, it used to take 9 hours to travel from Mumbai to Pune, but now it is reduced to 2 hours," the union minister said.

How will the satellite-based GPS toll collection system be different from FASTag?

The new highway tolling system will use the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for accurate location tracing. GNSS refers to any satellite-based navigation system, including the US' Global Positioning System (GPS) and India's GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN).

The GPS-based toll system will charge vehicles for the distance they have covered on highways. The vehicles will be fitted with an on-board unit (OBU) or tracking device, which will help determine the location.

The coordinates of the national highways will be logged in using digital image processing, and software will calculate toll rates based on the distance travelled. Additionally, highways will have gantries with CCTV cameras mounted for enforcement purposes.

The amount will be deducted from a digital wallet linked to the OBU.

In February, the government appointed a consultant to provide advisory services on GPS-based technology. "It has been decided to initially implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system at selected sections of National Highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag," a PIB release had said.

Currently, FASTags are used to facilitate payment at toll plazas using the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The RFID tag is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen, enabling toll payments directly from the linked account.