Visiting Gujarat? No need to wait in queue at toll plazas

The next time you head to Gujarat, you will not have to wait in long queues to pay toll tax, thanks to the installation of the electronic toll collection (ETC) system at toll plazas on the Mumbai-Vadodara stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.

The next time you head to Gujarat, you will not have to wait in long queues to pay toll tax, thanks to the installation of the electronic toll collection (ETC) system at toll plazas on the Mumbai-Vadodara stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.

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On Friday, CP Joshi, the union minister for road transport and highways, launched a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology based ETC system at Tawa toll plaza near Dahanu.

The toll plazas at Charoti, Bhagwada, Boriach, Choriyasi, Narmada Bridge and Karjan on the Mumbai-Vadodara stretch will also have ETC lanes.

When a vehicle with an RFID tag will pass through an ETC lane at a toll plaza, a tag-reader fitted there will read the tag’s unique number and the toll tax will get deducted automatically from a prepaid account. This account is supposed to be open while purchasing the RFID tag. The authorities are set to install RFID-based ETC systems at all toll plazas up to Ahmedabad and also on other national highways.

RC Palekar, general manager, National Highway Authority of India, said, “There will be two dedicated ETC lanes at all toll plazas on the Mumbai-Vadodara highway, which may be increased. We will continue installing the ETC system at toll plazas on other national highways.”

Motorists can buy RFID tags and recharge their prepaid accounts at the toll plazas or online through the website of ICICI bank. The MSRDC has already installed an ETC system at two lanes of the Bandra-Worli sea link and is planning to install one at toll plazas on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway also.