[greenhorn]

To the people asking why Indian fast tags are not as easy to read as the foreign ones. Indian fast tags are Passive RFID. Most foreign ones (such as the NY EZPass I have) are active rfid tags with superior range.

Not sure why India decided to go for passive tags but probably cost is all of them

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

To the people asking why Indian fast tags are not as easy to read as the foreign ones. Indian fast tags are Passive RFID. Most foreign ones (such as the NY EZPass I have) are active rfid tags with superior range.
Not sure why India decided to go for passive tags but probably cost is all of them

The Electronics city expressway in Bangalore had an active RFID. The flip-side is that the battery needs replacement (lasted more than a year). Back then the concept of cashless lanes wasn't there(rather not followed), so, most of time I anyway had to queue behind other cash payment vehicles.
As i recollect the amount charged was 250 for the tag. Not aware if they'd subsidized the device, nonetheless, if it was made mandatory, at scale, it probably would not have been a noticeable bump up in the cost.
In addition we would've spawned an industry around fast tag battery replacement :-)

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by whitewing

The Electronics city expressway in Bangalore had an active RFID. The flip-side is that the battery needs replacement (lasted more than a year)...
In addition we would've spawned an industry around fast tag battery replacement :-)

I think it was Rs. 100 and they would replace it for free. Had it done once. BETL has always managed to delay commuters, the only advantage of having the "OBD" was to avoid carrying change. The reason they want manual override and manual supervision is so that they can make money on the side, I have seen my Uber driver present an invalid slip and get through (I had to pay the toll nevertheless).

We can force manufacturers to include a device connected to the existing electrical system. But even if it is a passive tag, I'm sure it is possible to read it reliably. People have been pointing out, how in other countries, fines are not paid to the police but directly to the city coffers - naive, we can fix that too with our level of corruption . If we want to sabotage automated systems, there's no way any technological solution will work, only way out is to cause enough pain to the people who are behind this until they give up.

[sen2693]

The NHAI has issued new guidelines for the waiting time at toll plazas across the entire national Highway network in the country. It states that toll plaza operators should ensure a service time of not more than 10 seconds per car, even during peak hours. The new guidelines promise to ensure smooth flow of traffic at these toll centers, thereby saving precious time for the commuters.

Besides issuing the aforementioned guideline, the NHAI has also instructed toll plazas to paint a yellow line, 100 meters from each lane of the toll booth. This will serve as a threshold point and if the queue of vehicles is more than 100 metres the cars ahead can pass without paying a toll, till the queue comes under the yellow line.

News article: https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...-plazas-420952

[sen2693]

While they are at it, if they can also review how much toll to be paid at any given booth, that would help!

Sometimes, toll rates do not make any sense given the length of the toll road and condition. Once heard from a friend that toll is collected to compensate the builders for their cost of construction and once that is covered, the rates should go down to only cover maintenance costs. Haven't seen it happening though anywhere.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by sen2693

While they are at it, if they can also review how much toll to be paid at any given booth, that would help!

Sometimes, toll rates do not make any sense given the length of the toll road and condition. Once heard from a friend that toll is collected to compensate the builders for their cost of construction and once that is covered, the rates should go down to only cover maintenance costs. Haven't seen it happening though anywhere.

I worked in engineering consulting companies for quite some time in the early noughties and I can tell you that at that time there used to be a concession period of 20 years for every toll road, after which the concessionaire was supposed to hand over the road to the government and then it was upto the government whether it wanted to continue to collect toll or make it free for public use.

However, in my experience the only time I had seen a toll plaza go was the infamous one between Delhi and Gurgaon on NH-8. Otherwise it never happens. Too much of a cash cow, and like you said, there is no correlation between the length of the road and the rates. For example anyone who uses the Second Vivekananda/Nivedita bridge to take NH2 from Calcutta will pay toll twice within 2-3 kms - first 50 bucks for using the bridge and then again another 75 (I think) at the Dankuni toll plaza. Makes me wonder what we are paying taxes for.

Mods: kindly remove the post if this is too off topic.

[Neel_Pari]

Lets say i am in the queue for more than 10 seconds and the moment i reached the barrier, money got deducted automatically since i was closer to sensor. Now how do i claim my money back. Or do they want us to come out of car and start arguing? Sometimes these booths are unmanned then what? I want to understand the check in place to implement this rule. And if that check bypasses how do one claim refund.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

For example anyone who uses the Second Vivekananda/Nivedita bridge to take NH2 from Calcutta will pay toll twice within 2-3 kms - first 50 bucks for using the bridge and then again another 75 (I think) at the Dankuni toll plaza. Makes me wonder what we are paying taxes for.

Maybe different in the above case as there is a wholly separate concessionaire for the bridge (with a distinct standalone PPP agreement), which has no link with the NHAI concessionaire.