It refers to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) experimenting of toll-payment on some selected highways through mobile phones linked with pre-paid wallets so that motorists may not have to stop at toll-plazas. But with most people paying cash, toll-plazas will continue to be an unnecessary hurdle in smooth traffic-movement thus slowing down pace of vehicles on modern built highways at heavy cost. Otherwise also there are massive irregularities, corruption and problems of law and order. Even some private persons in connivance with local authorities and police have set up unauthorised toll-plazas to mint money.
State-governments are now asking, rightly too, uniform rates of road-tax. It is best time to decide for an increased uniform road-tax throughout the country which may also add adequate one-time payment to abolish concept of toll-tax. Purchasers of vehicles costing lakhs of rupees each will not mind paying some increased one-time road tax with cost of new vehicle to gain by abolition of toll-tax. Existing vehicles can be asked to deposit balance of increased tax by providing them a sticker to be fixed on their wind-screens.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
