Reportedly, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) appears to be developing an AI-powered parking payment system.
Going Beyond The Traditional Approach
Interestingly, this system goes much beyond the traditional FASTag RFID technology which is presently used for tolls and selected parking lots.
If you are wondering about how it works? Its cameras at parking lots will capture vehicle number plates, instead of RFID tags (barcode on FASTag stickers usually on the windshield).
Afterward AI will convert these images into numbers which will automatically debit the linked FASTag account.
As we know that here RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification, which is the technology currently being used in FASTag to make toll or parking payments.
This system further uses radio waves to identify and communicate with tags attached to objects.
How Does This Help?
While pouring more light on the subject, NPCI chief, Dilip Asbe said, “Instead of using the RFID system, we are looking at having the camera read the number plate and debit the FASTag. AI will be used to convert that image into a number. Proof of concept is being worked out.”
This new systems proof-of-concept is underway for both private and public parking lots across India and interestingly it already designed for all pre-registered FASTag users.
Moving ahead, Asbe said, “NPCI will be partnering with several startups to refine and build the technology.”
There is a little bit difference where FASTag currently uses RFID to make toll payments as vehicles move, on the other hand this new approach will use AI-powered Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and optical character recognition (OCR) to streamline parking transactions.
With the help of this new implementation, they are aiming to reduce congestion, improve accuracy in payments.
Besides this it will also help in preventing fraud by detecting fake or tampered number plates as well.
