Indian Highways Management Company (IHMCL), a NHAI promoted company and Axis Bank has signed an agreement yesterday for provision of Central Clearing House (CCH) services and sale of FASTag, for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) at the Toll Plazas on the National Highways. This is subsequent to the initiative taken by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, NHAI and IHMCL for implementation of unified Electronic Toll Collection on Indian national highways.

Electronic Toll Collection enables road users to pay highway tolls electronically without stopping at the toll plazas. The unique number of the RFID FASTag affixed on the wind shield of the vehicle will be read by the readers fitted in the dedicated ETC lanes of plazas and the toll will be deducted automatically. This will help in reducing congestion at the toll plazas and enable seamless movement of vehicles on the national highways.

Earlier this year, IHMCL had signed CCH Service Provider Agreement with ICICI bank also. IHMCL now has two banks viz ICICI and Axis Bank to perform clearing and settlement of electronic toll transaction, which is a key requirement for interoperable electronic toll collection. Considering the complexities and geographical spread, the nationwide ETC would be first of its kind in the whole world.