Soon, pay highway toll based on vehicle size, road tension

The government is planning a major revamp in the tolling policy that will move away from the current system of tolling based on distance covered on roads to one where it is set on real time and distance traveled on highways. Will be done.

Further, the toll will be decided on the basis of the actual size and weight of the vehicles and not just the number of axles, as is the case now.

The idea is to levy a toll based on the amount of space a vehicle occupies and the load it exerts on the road infrastructure, resulting in rapid wear and tear on the roads, said the official cited above on condition of anonymity. Told.

The official said the Union Road Ministry is discussing the proposal and may conduct pilot launches in some of the upcoming greenfield expressway projects, including the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, before they start across the country.

To prepare the ground for the transformation, the ministry has also asked the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU)-Varanasi to calculate the latest Passenger Car Unit (PCU) for different types of vehicles.

“The passenger car unit is a vehicle unit used to express highway capacity or how much road capacity a vehicle will use and for how long. This unit was set out several years ago, and in the meantime, for vehicles. There have been major changes in the size and their speed. This will be recorded in the revised passenger car unit, which can also form the basis for fixing toll charges on highways.”

Queries sent to the Road Ministry seeking details of the proposed changes remained unanswered till press time.

Mint had earlier reported that tolling may also shift from the current FASTag-based system to a system that uses GPS, creating a tolling system based on actual road usage. Therefore, users traveling short distances on highways with small and light vehicles will have to pay a much lower toll than those traveling long distances with larger, heavier vehicles.

“Location-based tolling should be introduced in phases as it will be a technological leap over the existing system based on FASTag. Around 80% of the toll collected in India comes from the movement of goods by commercial vehicles, and this segment should be apprised of the changes first,” said Jagnarayan Padmanabhan, Director and Practice Leader – Transport & Logistics, CRISIL Limited.

“As the processes stabilize, other sectors can also be prepared for a universal service for movement across the country. Adopting technology for change doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. But adoption should be gradual, eliminating the possibility of disruptions,” he said.

In the existing system, toll rates are fixed on the basis of pre-calculated PCUs. The number of axles is also a criterion for determination of toll rates. This meant that larger trucks with higher axle capacity paid higher tolls, even though they were efficient, causing less damage to roads, while carrying a higher volume of cargo at faster turnaround times. Also, the current toll system does not capture the actual road distance covered by a vehicle. Toll is levied at specific toll plazas for the entire journey, even if a vehicle exits the highway first.

The new system will reward efficient vehicles with lower toll rates, while those degrading road infrastructure and taking up more time and taking up more space will be charged higher.

The new tolling policy will be finalized after the IIT-BHU report on the revision of PCUs expected in the next six months. After the report, the PCU count of various vehicles will be determined afresh. In addition, location-based services would require GPS devices on vehicles and regulations for charging tolls based on location would need to be finalized, which would require amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act.

“The finalization of the new tolling policy is going on at a brisk pace and may be announced in 2023,” the official said earlier.