The central government has moved a step further on the 'more the distance, more the toll' policy on highways and expressways. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that private vehicle owners using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will not be charged any toll for travelling up to 20 km per day on highways and expressways.

Free movement up to 20 km

The ministry has amended the National Highway Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. Under the amended rules, private vehicles using GNSS will now be charged toll tax for the actual journey beyond 20 km.

These people will get benefit

The notification issued by the ministry said that under the Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system, the driver, owner or person in charge of a vehicle other than a vehicle having a national permit will be charged zero-user fee for using the national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel for a distance of up to 20 km in each direction in a day.

Toll plazas will be based on GNSS

In July this year, the ministry had decided to implement GNSS based toll collection system on a pilot project basis on some national highways. In June this year, global applications were also invited for implementing this fee collection system on a large scale.