Hyderabad: Motorists travelling on the busy Gachibowli-Shamshabad stretch of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) can enjoy a seamless ride even at the toll plazas now without any waiting time or worries about small change to pay the toll fee.
The Hyderabad Metro-politan Development Authority (HMDA) is all set to roll out ETC (electronic toll collection) system from Monday onwards in addition to already existing manual payment method.
It may be noted that nearly 10 years after inaugurating a portion of ORR, metropolitan authorities are introducing ETC system similar to NHAI (national highways authority of India) that introduced the technology in majority of toll plazas across the country post demonetisation.
However, this new method will be implemented on an experimental basis first on the Gachibowli-Shamshabad route (nearly 24 km) for 45 days to 60 days.
The decision to extend electronic toll collection to the entire 158 km corridor will be taken later.
To make use of this facility, motorists have to buy RFID (radio frequency identification) tags which have to be attached to vehicle windscreens and the sensors at toll plazas detects them and automatically lifts the barrier for smooth passage of vehicle.
These tags are just like pre-paid SIM cards used in mobile phones and will work only when the motorist recharges them with a certain amount of money that will be deducted each time when the vehicle passes through the toll plaza.
HMDA commissioner Mr T. Chiranjeevulu said that arrangements were being made to keep radio frequency identification tags in place and a few banks were also being contacted so that public can easily recharge the amount without any hassles. ETC will be rolled out by Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Monday, November 27, he added.
Chief general manager, ORR, Mr B. Anand Mohan, said that they had procured around 1,000 tags from Hong Kong initially and based on the response would try to get more in the coming days. This tag will be issued after taking details like name of the vehicle owner, registration number, classification of vehicle etc. along with a caution deposit, he added.
