The issue of security and privacy concerns of satellite toll collection was brought up by the Apex Committee responsible for reviewing the implementation of satellite highway toll systems. Due to talks and clearance from MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) it has been decided to go ahead with corridor specific Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system combined with FASTags for barrier free and seamless toll collection. These were the arguments presented in the session, in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The Ministry said “Both the senior committee and a committee of industry and academia experts hold the view that the issue of satellite toll collection needs to be delved into in terms of security issues and possible violations, in privacy and control."
The specialist committee met numerous times and deliberated on it before it suggested the stretch-based/corridor projects for the ANPR FASTag system (AFS)-based free-flow barrier-free toll collection, as per the Ministry.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has also appended their written response with the above that at present, the ability to toll by satellite positioning NavIC will have to be supplemented with other satellite constellations along with appropriate receivers in order to obtain the required accuracy in position sounding standards.
Following months of intense scrutiny and technical examination by committee experts, this is reported to be a development. Industry sources believe it is a realistic step toward the implementation of next-generation tolling equipment while addressing some of the biggest areas of contention, including data security and operational integrity.
This ANPR FASTag infrastructure includes advanced camera technologies used to capture the vehicle's registration number when it traverses pre-defined toll locations. This technology is intended to expand the current FASTag eco-system, which became mandatory for tolling from February 2021, to India's national highway network.
Initially, the Ministry source explains, launch will begin in already clogged corridors between capital cities. Gradual rollout will enable the government to monitor performance, iron out technical issues, and transfer any change required to the system prior to mass nationwide implementation.
"If free-flow tolling is introduced, travel time for congested corridors would be reduced by 30% at peak hours," a Senior Ministry official has added. "The barrier-free system as proposed would alleviate congestion at toll booths, thereby saving fuel and emissions from idling vehicles,"
Another significant infrastructure development will be provision for high-definition cameras, image processing hardware of high sophistication, and connectivity infrastructure. News reports indicate that the Ministry has already started discussions with technology vendors for working out specifications that would allow high performance under India's diverse environmental and luminous conditions in a diverse terrain.
Privacy campaigners have greeted tentatively the delay on satellite tolling, where round-the-clock monitoring of car journeys would occur. While the ANPR system gathers car records, it limits data to be gathered in the toll area and not on the round-the-clock monitoring journey.
Free flow tolling will therefore be in conformity with the best international practices of Singapore, the United States, and certain European countries. Industry experts opine that it can also take India's highway infrastructure to the most modern in the third world.
The Ministry informed that it will come out with a detailed implementation plan and technical specification within the next few months after getting its final clearance from the concerned government agencies.
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