[TusharK]

According to a media report, the government is planning to penalize those paying toll by cash by charging 10-20% surcharge. The move aims to promote cash-less payment methods like FASTags.



It is said that cash transactions take longer and therefore increase congestion at toll plazas. At present, the government is offering a discount on the base rate on electronic toll payments. Going forward, those paying toll by cash might have to shell out an extra surcharge over the base rate and discounts for electronic toll payments may be removed.

It has been reported that about 30% of the toll paid at the 400 toll plazas of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is collected electronically. At toll plazas around Delhi, more than 60% of the toll transactions are carried out using cash payments. The government wants to reduce this to less than 10%.

Source: Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by TusharK

According to a media report, the government is planning to penalize those paying toll by cash by charging 10-20% surcharge. The move aims to promote cash-less payment methods like FASTags.

If there was a uniform toll method, it would make sense. In Mumbai, the Mum-Pune expressway is FASTag, but if I remember correctly, sealink and the like have an ETC tag.

I support the move, but they need to make it one uniform system.

[TorqueKnight]

This makes sense. If the masses migrate to Fastag then the wait time at the toll plazas will greatly reduce. During holiday seasons the Fastag only booths also opens up to masses and there is no use of Fastag during that time. I welcome this move. Fastag is easy to recharge and use. Hope everyone will use it

[.sushilkumar]

A much needed step in right direction since most toll operators under report their earnings to NHAI and govt (Noida toll Bridge company will be a good example) .This will help the govt know exactly the earnings of the toll operator since you have a money trail with digital payments & earn the correct royalty / revenue from operator. Moreover, Operator is not allowed to profit beyond a certain point. Aggrement is either 20 odd years or a decent profit out of toll collection. As a End user, I see many tolls going away before mandatory 20 years.

[bkc]

In some tolls, the fastag doesn't work at all. The people are forced to move to non fastag lane and pay by cash.

Once some vehicle raced and went ahead in fastag lane, the inner gate opened but had detected my fastag. Later, I tried entering several times, but it didn't signal green.
Took the next lane, paid by cash and also received message of fastag deduction.

[GrandTourer]

Great move. Currently, it'll only be implemented for NHAI roads if I'm not wrong. Hope they get it to the ones in the cities. In Mumbai, Vashi and Airoli tolls didn't accept Fasttag nor ETC the last time I traveled, even though they have dedicated lanes for ETC.

[boniver]

We had a thread here on Team-BHP last month, debating upon the Rajasthan Government's move to not issue driving licenses to illiterates (link to thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...g-licence.html (On educational qualifications & the driving licence)). While I'm pro-rights and believe that everyone should be allowed to drive irrespective of their position on the socio-economic or literacy ladder, I'm all for embracing the future and I stand by moves like these, which could largely change the way we travel on highways.

However, the authorities must keep in mind that a majority of the travellers on highways are truckers, drivers of other commercial vehicles and private vehicle drivers who may not be that conversant with using an app to load their Fastags with money. A lot of them may not even be comfortable with blocking their funds on Fastag, since they literally live paycheck to paycheck.

Therefore, instead of suddenly introducing penalties like "20% extra for paying by cash", the authorities should make an effort to educate everyone about the benefits of digital payments, and how to use digital wallets and save everyone's time. The recharge apps should also be illustrative and easy for the masses to use. That, in my opinion, would yield much better results that moves like these, which could lead to a backlash.

Honestly though, I don't think the entire population would be able to shift to Fastag in the foreseeable future. I could list similar examples, Metro Railway Smart Cards and PayTM. While a lot of people here in Kolkata use Smart Cards to save their time and skip huge queues to buy tickets daily, a lot of people still buy tokens everyday by standing in the queues. They know about the benefits of using a smart card since they've seen others using them for the past 12-13 years or so, but they either don't want to leave their comfort zone, or their travel isn't frequent enough for them to block their funds in the card. Therefore, the metro turnstiles have an option for both, users who use Smart Cards and others who use tokens. It's the same with PayTM. I pay for petrol with PayTM, but 90% other people that I see in the queue ahead of me pay using cash/card. They've not made the transition to digital yet.

A similar approach could be used and both Fastag and cash should be accepted (without penalties), allowing the population to gradually shift to the former.

PS: I took a long time to type this out, so kindly excuse me if any member has already made the same points as I have. Thanks

[Hayek]

This is long overdue and makes immense sense. However, we need a single wallet that works in all toll booths - with allocation of tolls done in the back end. Currently, i have an ETC for the Sea Link - which can theoretically be activated for the Vashi toll. But MEP insists on my loading a separate wallet - which does not make sense for my once in 2 months trip through that toll. And neither of those wallets work on the Expressway - so i have not bothered to get a Fasttag which I will end using 3-4 times a year at best.

If my Sea Link ETC were made to work on all toll booths (at least in Maharashtra), I would use it all the time. Let’s hope they do that along with the introduction of a cost incentive. And they enforce lane discipline in Tag lanes the way it is done on the Sea Link

[ninjatalli]

Excellent move! I hope they also improve the current situation at the tolls and make all gates tag enabled by automated tag machines. Currently it's a myraid scene with certain places having a human run around with a handheld machine to read the car tag, while others have either a few tag enabled gates or all gates enabled but without the correct signage.

In fact this should be higher, in the US cash payments are nearly double the tag based payment.

Originally Posted by lamborghini

but if I remember correctly, sealink and the like have an ETC tag.

I support the move, but they need to make it one uniform system.

Interoperability is the key, but I have a feeling Mumbai based ETC running firm is playing spoilsport.

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by TusharK

It is said that cash transactions take longer and therefore increase congestion at toll plazas.

A good move and much needed.

A side (positive) effect would be that one would not any more come across news such as "Toll plaza staff beaten by Mr. Do You Know Who I am!"

Now only if they could go about finding reasons for congestion all around towns and cities and take steps to de-congest them.

[Shashwat B]

This is definitely a step forward. In Banaglore, we pay toll to enter the road leading to the airport. With this system in place, the queues at the toll booth would reduce. I have spent over 25minutes on multiple occasions stuck behind about 20 odd cars.

[pganapathy]

This is a very impractical solution for a country where digital payments barely exist in rural areas. You can't use one RFID reader for every toll gate in India.

Also, there are many people who come to a toll gate once every couple of months. It makes very little sense for them to have an RFID reader, and money locked away in that account.

Even in first world countries, people still pay by cash, so expecting that behaviour to change quickly in India is unrealistic at best and idiotic at worst.

[pugram]

Unless the Govt puts up a robust RFID / Card reader infrastructure on its own or urge the contractor for the same this is not going to work.

In few toll booths I have seen the toll operators employing guys with reader guns who hop from one car to another. The reader installed already seems to be very weak and error prone.

And like many others I wish there is one card / wallet that is accepted pan India.

[GrammarNazi]

Govt wants to curb non-traceable payments at Toll Plaza's.

Whether it is to curb utilisation of black money or actually to reduce the time taken at toll plaza (unlikely), or to prevent pilferage by toll attendants. This leadership again wants to push digitisation in an cash-based economy.

IMO it's only a matter of time that govt will levy surcharge on fuel purchased by cash. Any commodity, the consumption of which the govt can keep track of, may get added to the list later.

There's no question of privacy being compromised though the state can obviously track individuals & secure a position that can possibly be misused to collect info based on who comes to power.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by boniver

However, the authorities must keep in mind that a majority of the travellers on highways are truckers, drivers of other commercial vehicles and private vehicle drivers who may not be that conversant with using an app to load their Fastags with money. A lot of them may not even be comfortable with blocking their funds on Fastag, since they literally live paycheck to paycheck.

It is these truckers who are the early adopters of fastag. They are the happiest post the cash-less system. 1. Drivers happy because they no longer have to worry about carry lots of cash (at avg. of Rs. 700+ per toll, they would spend a significant money over long distances) and 2. Owners will know exact toll expenditure and won't have to give cash to drivers (+ some savings too).

Its the lazy private car owners who are slow to adopt. Despite all new cars being mandated to be delivered with Fastags, the owners don't bother keeping any balance in it.

On my highway trips, 99% of interstate trucks I've seen use Fastag. It will also create better accountability for the toll operator. We know they under report figures. With digital payments, this wont happen. Once everyone starts paying via non cash methods, toll operators will automatically fall in line.