As per the reports from Delhi, Commercial vehicles with Radio Frequency Identification( RFID) tags will operate cashless from today. On violation, the double tax amount will be charged as penalty.
The Supreme Court decreed EPCA (Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has announced that From 13 September no commercial vehicle will be allowed to enter in Delhi through the 13 RFID enabled toll plazas if they didn’t make payment using their RFID accounts.
E-toll facility was launched on April 25, 2018, across all the toll plazas in India, where 275 toll plazas were equipped with Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) technology, which was supposed to help indirectly deducting the toll charges from passing vehicles.
How Does RFID Work?
The radio waves transmit data from the tag to a reader, which then transmits the information to an RFID computer program. RFID tags are frequently used for merchandise, but in this case, it is used to track vehicles and accordingly making payments for the toll taxes. It helps in saving time and energy by making things much easier.
These tags can also be used for tracking pets, and even patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
On 24 August, Delhi’s 13 busy toll plazas become RFID functional to collect Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) tax and environment compensation charge (ECC) from commercial vehicles.
Vision Behind RFID Implementation
The main goal behind its implementation was to reduce pollution by easing traffic congestion and reduce revenue leakage by ensuring transparency.
But this newly implemented cashless system has not become completely functional because many commercial vehicle owners haven’t recharged their RFID accounts, as informed by Randhir Sahay, additional commissioner of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
As of 4 September, only 574 accounts out of 3 lac commercial vehicles RFID account has been recharged.
He said that “One of the main objectives of the RFID project is to reduce long queues at toll plazas by making the process completely cashless. To make it happen, it is important for vehicle owners to recharge their RFID accounts”
He also said that only non-RFID commercial vehicles were supposed to pay the fine, once this system came into the picture from 24 August. After implementation, It was kept optional for vehicles to pay either by cash or get it deducted by their wallets.
Additional commissioner Sahay also confirmed that “From Friday, the system will become completely cashless. No cash will be accepted at the 13 toll plazas. Those who have not got their accounts recharged will have to pay double the amount of tax and their vehicles will be blacklisted,”
So far around 3.6 lac RFID tags have been sold but very few of them paid ECC and MCD tax using these tags, Sahay informed. (reference ET)
How RFID Accounts Can Be Recharged?
There are many ways these accounts can be recharged by vehicle owners.
- It can be recharged on https://ecctagsdmc.com/ website.
- A mobile application is developed named MCD Toll to make this process mobile-friendly.
- 28 points of sales kiosks at the 13 entry/exit points are made available by authorities.
While talking about future aspects, the Authorities has informed that they are planning to install the RFID system at 10 second-level toll booths wherein an increasing number of commercial vehicles are entering into the city bypassing the automated tax collection booths at the main entry points.
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