New Delhi: Motorists using vehicles with a functional global navigation satellite system (GNSS) will be allowed to travel toll-free on highways and expressways up to 20 kilometres daily with effect from September 10, according to a government notification.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, which has come into effect from Tuesday.

Under the new regulations, known as the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2024, fees will now be charged on the actual distance travelled if the distance exceeds 20 kilometres.

"A driver, owner or person in charge of a mechanical vehicle other than a National Permit vehicle who makes use of the same section of the national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel, as the case may be, shall be levied a zero user fee up to 20 kilometres of a journey in each direction in a day under Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system," the notification said.

"Provided also that exclusive lane can be earmarked for Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit fitted vehicle and in case vehicle enters such lane, without a valid, functional Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit, shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the user fee applicable at that fee plaza," it added.

The highway ministry in July had said it decided to initially implement a GNSS-based toll collection system at select national highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that a pilot study with regard to a GNSS-based user fee collection system has been done on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.

Gadkari had said a stakeholder consultation through an international workshop was organised on June 25, 2024, and global expression of interest (EOI) was invited for wider industrial consultation on June 7, 2024, with the last date of submission as July 22, 2024.

NHAI plans to implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model wherein both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously.

Implementation of GNSS-based electronic toll collection in India will facilitate the smooth movement of vehicles along the National Highways and is envisaged to provide several benefits to highway users such as barrier-less free-flow tolling leading to hassle-free riding experience and distance-based tolling where users will pay only for the stretch they have travelled on a national highway, the ministry said.
The GNSS-based collection will also result in more efficient toll collection as it helps to plug leakages and check toll evaders. 

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