Vehicles could soon glide through at least 11 toll plazas across Uttar Pradesh without slowing down to stop at booths, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) prepares to introduce the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling system, replacing conventional barriers with overhead scanners and cameras that will identify vehicles and collect tolls electronically.
“Toll plazas have been identified, and work to convert them to MLFF will begin soon,” said Abdul Basit, regional officer, NHAI UP (West). “The rollout would proceed in phases, with the wider target expected to be completed within nine months of the start of work.”
Among the identified locations is Siwaya toll plaza in Meerut district, on the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar stretch of National Highway (NH) 58. Other plazas include Kurana in Hapur district on NH-334, Chota Mawana in Meerut district and Bhanera in Bijnor district on the Meerut-Najibabad route. The user will have to pay the normal toll within 72 hours of receiving the notice.
NHAI introduced its first MLFF toll plaza at Chorayasi on the Surat-Bharuch section in Gujarat. Because of a technical issue, the system will identify the vehicle for subsequent recovery of the fee, if a toll deduction fails. Because of road repair work, toll collection at the facility is currently suspended.
The proposed system will allow vehicles to pass beneath overhead gantries while Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers scan their FASTags and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras capture their registration plates. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software will convert the number plate images into text, which the system will cross-check against vehicle registration details linked to the FASTag before deducting the applicable toll. Patni Pratapur in Shamli district lies on NH-709A, while Bhuni in Meerut district, along with Jagahedi and Dabheri in the Shamli-Muzaffarnagar region, are located on NH-709AD. Jiwana toll plaza in Baghpat, on the Baghpat-Bharatmala stretch, is also among the locations listed for conversion. Mujhera toll plaza is located in the Meerapur area of Muzaffarnagar district. The barrier-free arrangement is intended to reduce queues at toll plazas, particularly during peak travel periods, when vehicles often line up to make payments. In cases involving insufficient FASTag balance or an invalid or non-functional tag, an electronic notice (e-notice) will be issued. Failure to pay within that period will attract a charge at twice the normal rate applicable to the vehicle category. Once the system becomes operational, conventional toll barriers will be removed and lanes will be marked for camera-based vehicle identification. The arrangement is also expected to reduce staffing requirements, while maintenance of the lanes and installation of the necessary equipment will form part of the conversion work. In Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway was the first to adopt a camera-based tolling facility using ANPR technology.
