With pollution season nearing, Delhi's toll-free border plan yet to take off

The Multi-Lane Free Flow system is a barrier-less electronic toll technology that allows vehicles to pass through toll points without stopping or slowing down.

With Delhi’s annual winter pollution season just weeks away, on-ground work on a barrier-free toll collection system for commercial vehicles at the Capital’s border entry points – as sought by the Supreme Court – is yet to begin, raising concerns that serpentine jams at toll plazas will likely add to vehicular emissions during the most polluted months.

Last year, the Supreme Court directed MCD to urgently consider the temporary closure of nine toll plazas over long queues. (HT Photo)

The Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) system is a barrier-less electronic tolling technology that allows vehicles to pass through toll points without stopping or slowing down. Overhead gantries equipped with RFID readers, sensors and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras detect vehicles and automatically deduct toll charges digitally.

Several steps pending despite completing survey

A senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official aware of the progress, who asked not to be identified, said a survey of nine major border points was conducted last week. Development work will begin once the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) grants permission.

To be sure, several key steps, including procurement and installation of ANPR cameras, overhead gantries, power systems, high-speed networking, and roadside sensors, software integration, and trial runs, are still pending. This has raised questions over MCD’s target of completing the first phase by next month.

MCD has said the technology will reduce queues at Delhi’s borders, lower vehicle idling times and help cut emissions during winter.

Supreme Court's order

The Supreme Court, faced with reports of serpentine queues at Delhi’s borders amid the city’s worsening pollution, on December 17 last year directed MCD to urgently consider the temporary closure or shifting of nine toll plazas. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked MCD to consider suspending toll collection, making it clear that financial considerations could not outweigh public interest.

“Why can’t the officials say that till January, there will be no toll plaza?” the bench remarked.

MCD subsequently informed courts and agencies that its new toll collection contract would provide for barrierless toll plazas at “20 major entry points by October”, before the winter pollution season, with the remaining border points to be covered by December 2026.

However, officials said installing the system at just nine MCD toll plazas located on NHAI highways within a month to a month-and-a-half would be challenging because of the volume of traffic. The nine points are Tikri Border, Singhu, Kapashera, Aya Nagar, Badarpur, Apsara-Shahdara, New Mandoli, Ghazipur and Rajokri.

Ghazipur, in particular, handles a large volume of vehicles entering Delhi from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand through the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

“Approval from NHAI is still pending for the implementation of the MLFF system at nine toll plazas, as ordered by the Supreme Court,” the senior MCD official said. “As per the contract awarded to the toll collection agency, a six-month period has been provided to the executing agency for setting up MLFF system but we are hopeful that nine major entry points would be covered by the winter season.”

The time factor

Another official said work of this scale typically takes considerably longer because installation has to be carried out alongside moving traffic on busy highways.

“Even if approval is granted this week, setting up the system could take at least three-four months on an expedited timeline. Given that Delhi’s air quality begins to deteriorate in October, traffic jams at toll plazas could contribute to increased pollution levels,” the official said, adding that NHAI had itself taken much longer to install MLFF systems on its roads.

Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated an MLFF barrier-less tolling system at the Mundka-Bakkarwala Toll Plaza on Delhi’s Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) on May 11, 2026.

NHAI did not respond to HT’s queries regarding the matter.

The process of awarding MCD’s toll collection contract has also faced delays and controversy, with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party alleging that tender conditions were “manipulated”. MCD has maintained that all norms were followed and said pleas challenging the award were dismissed by the court.

The agency will collect toll at 154 MCD toll plazas and install the MLFF technology as part of the contract.

The executing agency is expected to spend around ₹200 crore on the MLFF system, an amount included in the tender conditions, the official said. The new contract is projected to generate annual toll revenue of around ₹964 crore for MCD.