Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of road Transport & Highways of India would be inaugurating the electronic toll booth system on October 31, 2014. Ironically, Mr. Gadkari was found riding a scooter without a helmet, a photograph of which is spreading like wild fire over the internet.
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System is aimed at eliminating the delay that the cars face while waiting at a toll booth. Automatic Detectors would be installed at various toll plazas which would be able to detect the car and make a receipt for it as per the choice of the car driver. There would also be a provision of automatic detection of the toll slips in case, one has taken a toll slip for an up-down route.
55 Automated Toll Plazas have already been installed on the Delhi-Mumbai route via Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and finally Maharashtra. These are all set and tested to work and are just waiting for the inauguration to take place. Apart from these, 10 automatic toll plazas have also been set between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The plazas at this route use the Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RIFD) for automation purposes.
The government has launched rules for incorporating an ETC lane in every new toll booth under construction. Steps and provisions are also being made for converting at least one lane into an ETC lane at all the pre-existing and running toll plazas. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) says that this would be a huge leap towards achieving excellence and development on highways.
