Transparency in highway toll collection

Highway travel has become costlier by five percent, with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) notifying the increase in toll charges by 3-5 percent. The NHAI has also started the process of implementing barrier-free and seamless electronic toll collection by floating a global tender. As electronic toll collection requires less staff and involves less running expenditure than staffed toll collection, highway travellers will expect the NHAI to pass on the savings to highway users by reducing the toll charges. The NHAI plans to implement the satellite-based electronic toll collection system within the existing ecosystem, initially for commercial vehicles and subsequently covering private vehicles over the next two years. Initially, both the existing radio frequency identification tag and satellite-based tracking will operate simultaneously. NHAI plans to make available dedicated satellite-based tracking lanes at toll plazas, through which vehicles will be able to pass through without stopping. Existing radio frequency tag tracking systems with lanes managed by toll plaza staff will also continue simultaneously and will gradually be replaced with satellite-based barrier-free toll collection in all lanes of national highways. Under the new system, users will be required to pay only for the stretch they have travelled on a national ighway. Barrier-free and smooth travel will be a pleasant experience for highway travellers, but more clarity is needed if the toll fee is higher or lower than the amount they are paying under the current system for travelling a certain distance. The toll collection system is opposed by many highway users. They argue that since road tax is paid against all vehicles that come on the road, what is the need to charge a toll fee for plying the same vehicles on highways? A road tax is collected for using roads within a state, and a toll fee is charged for using interstate highways. However, in most cases, vehicles pay a toll to travel on stretches within the state, as toll plazas are established every 60 km. The toll fee is collected for highway development and maintenance, but the poor condition of stretches of highways in Assam raises the question of where the money collected through the toll plazas goes. The government must inform highway users about the amount collected and utilisation to bring more transparency into the system. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture notes in its recent report that the amount of funds allocated for maintaining national highways is “miniscule, given the vast length of highways across the country.” It points out that several committees, including NITI Aayog, have recommended that maintaining existing roads should be prioritised over constructing new national highways. In 2023–24, the Ministry of Transport and Highways has been allocated Rs 2,600 crore for maintaining highways. The Committee recommends that the expenditure on maintenance be increased in view of the huge toll tax collected by the authorities from road users. Data related to the toll fee in the Committee’s report highlights that 46.3 crore hours of vehicle travel time per year have been saved, which is equivalent to the economic value of Rs. 34,000 crore. This has led to 47 seconds less waiting time than the previous 714 seconds in manual collection and has resulted in fuel savings. Toll revenue has increased to 29 percent, the number of vehicle trips has increased, and pilferage has stopped. Evidently, the hike in toll fee charges will further increase revenue, and people have the right to ask the NHAI why the highways on which they are paying to travel are not maintained in good condition. The committee also recommended that revenue collected from toll plazas be shared with the respective states. The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited has indicated that the four-lane national highway from Jorhat to Dibrugarh is likely to be completed in the current year. Travellers face harrowing experiences along incomplete stretches of the highway. People travelling from Guwahati to Dibrugarh ask as to why the NHAI charges a toll fee for the stretches completed from Guwahati to Nagaon when the highway expansion is yet to be completed, and even after payment of the toll fee, they are made to drive along incomplete stretches to reach their destinations. This is a legitimate question that NHAI needs to answer. The Assam Government should also intervene on the issue to ensure that the toll fee collected is utilised to ensure the travel worthiness of the highways in the state. There are also incidents of cybercriminals hacking into the system and syphoning money from bank accounts, from which a toll fee is automatically deducted even when the vehicle is kept parked at a residence or somewhere else. The NHAI must improve the cyber security system and ensure that the satellite-based toll collection system is foolproof to boost confidence in using dedicated satellite-based tracking lanes.