NHAI Mandates Free-Flow Tolling for Upcoming Highway Projects

New Tolling System to Eliminate Additional Land Acquisition

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling compulsory for all upcoming National Highway projects. According to the ET Infra, the new arrangement will restrict toll plazas to a maximum of eight lanes, including projects where construction is yet to begin. It will also remove the need for additional land acquisition for physical toll gates and reduce public expenditure.

Under the new system, electronic toll collection equipment will be installed on overhead gantries. This will eliminate the requirement for multiple toll booths and additional tolling lanes.

Existing Toll Plazas Have Up to 32 Lanes

Several toll plazas on six-lane and eight-lane highways currently have more than 20 lanes. In some locations, the total number reaches 32 lanes.

Traditional toll collection systems require more lanes to accommodate vehicles waiting at toll gates. The revised arrangement aims to manage traffic through fewer lanes by increasing their vehicle-handling capacity.

Gantry-Mounted Cameras to Deduct Toll Through FASTag

The new tolling arrangement will use high-performance Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. These devices will be mounted on overhead highway gantries to identify vehicles in motion.

The system will automatically deduct the applicable toll through FASTag. An official explained the land acquisition implications of the revised arrangement.

"For all practical reasons, there will be no need to acquire any extra land for toll plazas. The tolling system using gantry-mounted high-performance RFID readers and ANPR cameras to identify vehicles in motion and deduct the applicable toll through FASTag will be installed on the highway," said an official.

NHAI Estimates 600 Vehicles Per Hour Per Lane

NHAI circulated the revised toll plaza design on Friday. The updated layout aims to reduce the total number of tolling lanes while improving the capacity of each lane.

Under the proposed configuration, each lane is estimated to handle 600 vehicles per hour. The revised design will allow toll plazas to manage vehicle movement with a maximum of eight lanes.