The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering implementing the plans to develop electronic toll booths across the highways in the country in order to reduce the travelling time for the commuters.

For the successful implementation of the plans, the NHAI is conducting a pilot project to test the system near Chennai. The officials have installed electronic toll booths on the four-lane highway between Tindivanam and Ulunderpet in Villupuram on Sunday and vehicles fitted with a stampsized radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag will pass through the pools without hassle of any waiting time.

NHAI has tied with GMR for the plans and the company is implementing the system on the 73km stretch. According to estimates, about 20,000 vehicles ply on the highways on both ways. Under the new system, the vehicle owners will have to pay the toll to NHAI in advance and the amount will be stored in the RFID tags.

A spokesperson for GMR Group explained that the RFID tag will be like a hologram sticker and an antenna at the booth will receive signals from the sticker as the vehicle passes through the booth.

The boom barriers at the toll booth will automatically after the system received signal, allowing the vehicle to pass through without stopping.

About 700 state government buses have already been fitted with RFID tags, which will allow busses to reduce travel time on the highways. The spokesperson pointed out that the tag does not meant that the vehicle will be able to pass through the toll booth at high speed.

“Vehicles will have to slow down. The tag can be read about 50 metres from the booth,” said the spokesperson.