Time to drive quick and smart. Soon, cars will come fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID)-based smart tags that will allow seamless journey on highways across the country - without having to line up at toll plazas.

It will also make it easy to track a stolen vehicle as every tag, a microchip to be fitted in the windshield, will have a unique code.

The road ministry will soon make it mandatory for manufacturers to fit all light and heavy vehicles with the tag, which will save the owners the hassle of going to toll plazas to buy such tags.

"Vehicles manufactured on or after six months from the date of notification will have to be fitted with RFID tags," said an official.

Owners will have to get details like their names, vehicle numbers etc. registered to get it activated.

"A central database will store all information. The moment a vehicle approaches a toll plaza, the system will identify the unique code and deduct the toll," said a ministry official.

The move is aimed at ensuring a smooth rollout for the ministry's ambitious interoperable smart tag-based electronic toll collection system across highways by 2014.

If the ministry meets the deadline, India will be the first country to have an interoperable facility across 194 toll plazas. Simply put, one tag will work across the country.