From October 27, drive between Delhi and Mumbai without any toll halts

NEW DELHI: From Monday (October 27) onwards, you can drive down from Delhi to Mumbai and Mumbai to Delhi without stopping at any toll plaza. All you need is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on your vehicle. The tag is interoperable across toll plazas.

Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the electronic toll collection (ETC) system on Monday for the Delhi-Mumbai stretch.

ETC has already been installed at 55 toll plazas and their integration with central clearing house (CCH) operators has almost been completed. A pilot project for Interoperable ETC system of 10 toll plazas between Mumbai (Charoti) and Ahmedabad has already been tested and seamless ETC on this section is successfully in operation.

The central government has issued orders to incorporate ETC lanes as a mandatory clause in the contracts awarded for all the national highway projects in future. Action will be taken to include ETC system by making supplementary agreement in those projects which have not yet been started.

The road transport ministry has moved a proposal to penalize commuters who enter tag lanes without their vehicles having tags so that others don't face congestion while crossing plazas. Violators may be asked to pay five times of the present toll.