India is moving towards barrier-free toll collection, with a multi-lane free flow (MLFF) system expected to become operational at toll plazas by February, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. The planned system is intended to allow vehicles to pass through toll points without stopping, extending the reduction in delays already achieved through FASTag.
Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest, Gadkari said the government was progressing towards fully digital tolling and would use technology to eliminate the remaining stoppages at plazas. He said FASTag had already removed the need for cash payments and change collection, while sharply reducing the time vehicles spend waiting at toll points.
According to the minister, waiting times that previously reached 12 minutes at toll plazas, and in some cases as much as 30 minutes, have fallen by 80% to 90% since FASTag adoption increased. The next stage of the programme is to move from shorter queues to uninterrupted passage through multi-lane free flow tolling.
The MLFF model is designed to collect tolls digitally without requiring vehicles to stop at a physical booth. Gadkari did not provide further details in the reported remarks on the number of plazas covered, the technology architecture, enforcement arrangements or the precise implementation schedule beyond the February target.
Gadkari linked the reduction in toll-plaza waiting times to wider economic and environmental benefits. He said faster tolling was estimated to save 71 crore hours annually and generate economic savings of about Rs 68,500 crore a year. The figures were presented as an assessment of the gains from reduced delays and more efficient toll collection.
The minister also said lower idling time and fuel consumption had produced environmental benefits comparable to planting around 2.7 crore trees. The claim connects tolling efficiency with emissions and resource savings, although the supplied report does not provide the methodology used to calculate the comparison.
FASTag has therefore become the foundation for the government’s next tolling phase. While the existing system reduces transaction time at toll plazas, the proposed MLFF system would seek to remove the physical stoppage itself. The government’s next stated milestone is to make the multi-lane free flow system operational by February.
