A vehicle installed with the RFID also called FastTags that can be recharged once the balance becomes zero, will be able to drive past a toll plaza without having to stop and pay the toll. The tag will a unique code that will help identify the vehicles so when they will pass through a plaza, the system will read the code and automatically deduct the toll.

As of now, only a single lane in a handful of highway stretches in the country, including Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Mumbai, are ETC enabled.

The project has been a non-starter for long. Initially, there was reluctance on the part of concessionaires to come on board. Also, the two banks that were selected initially to act as the central clearinghouse and manage toll transactions were not able to sell the smart tags.

As of now, of the 40,00,000 vehicles plying on highways, 620,000 have been installed with the RFID tags. “Our aim is to get 15,00,000 vehicles installed with the smart tags by March 2018,” said YS Malik, road transport and highways secretary.

Currently, there are six private and public sector banks that have been appointed to run the central clearinghouse and manage all toll transactions.

The RFID tags can be installed by automobile manufacturers at their end or alternatively, drivers can buy the FastTags from the designated banks and toll plazas. Presently smart Tag Fees is 200 including all applicable taxes.

The Union road transport and highways ministry’s much-hyped Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), will finally kick off in all the 370 toll plazas across the country by October 31, over five years after the system was announced Malik added.