Barrierless tolling makes impact, number of e-notices goes down

NEW DELHI: After earlier uncertainty, there are now clear indications that barrierless tolling on national highway (NH) stretches, coupled with e-notices for violations, is inculcating greater discipline among road users.At Choryasi toll plaza on NH-48 in Gujarat, the first to go live, e-notices fell from 1.7 lakh in May to 1.1 lakh in June and further to 92,240 in July. Mundka toll plaza in Delhi, which went live on May 10, recorded 1.69 lakh e-notices in June, with a marginal decline to 1.67 lakh in July.

Multilane free flow (MLFF), or barrierless tolling, is currently operational at five toll plazas. It was rolled out at Daulatpura on Delhi-Jaipur highway and Gharaunda on Delhi-Chandigarh highway in the third and fourth week of June, respectively.

Manoharpura on Delhi-Jaipur highway was the latest to go live, on July 1.Data show that e-notices issued during the first month of MLFF operations at Daulatpura, Gharaunda and Manoharpura were significantly lower than those issued when the system was launched at Choryasi and Mundka. Daulatpura issued 33,038 e-notices in July, while Gharaunda and Manoharpura recorded 86,760 and 70,550, respectively.“As awareness about e-notices for toll non-payment spreads, road users are becoming more compliant. A large number of vehicle owners, particularly car users without active FASTags, are also falling in line,” said an official involved in NHAI’s tolling system.Failure to pay or challenge an e-notice within 72 hours can result in the vehicle owner being liable to pay double the toll. Prolonged non-payment can also affect access to Vahan-related services.