Indian government calls in IT experts to decide on new toll system

The Indian government has decided to call in senior IT experts, including UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, to develop an India-specific method of toll collection on highways. India has over 70,000km (43,500 miles) of highways and proposes to significantly enhance the network by constructing 20km (12.4 miles) of roads every day over the next five years. Currently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been able to toll about 10,000km (6,200 miles) of highways. Nilekani had left one of India’s premier IT companies, Infosys, to head the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which has been entrusted with the task of providing unique identification number to over one billion people in the country. Kamal Nath, India’s Road Transport and Highways Minister, says, “I have requested Nandan Nilekani to head a committee as its chairman to decide on the best tolling technology, most appropriate for India.”

The Ministry had planned to undertake a pilot study for installing automatic toll collection systems on highways that was scheduled for October last year, but this has been deferred by six months. The delays in the start of pilot-testing on three road stretches, Panipat-Jalandhar, Surat-Dahisar and Gurgaon-Kathputli, were attributed to developers’ lack of expertise in toll collection systems and a reluctance to import costly equipment. The three pilot projects will adopt different technologies (microwave, infrared and RFID) and the most suitable for a nationwide roll-out will be selected by the committee.

The present process of crossing toll plazas in India is time consuming, as drivers are often required to pay several times to complete journey on a highway stretch. The different collection systems currently in use, including cash payment, lead to substantial revenue leakage. The NHAI reports over Rs15 billion (US$326 million) loss annually, on account of inadequate tolling. Nath says the new tolling system, “should be user-friendly, which will be common for all of India. We cannot have different technologies in different states.” Nath, who has recently visited Japan, had discussed the issue of tolling there with investors and officials. “Whether a Japanese tolling system or not will be implemented, they (the committee) will decide - Nandan knows it best.”
 

3 February 2010