Delhi free-flow toll system misses deadline; queues continue at Ghazipur

Long queues remained at the Ghazipur toll plaza on Monday, two days after MCD’s October 31 target for a barrier-free toll collection system passed.

MCD plans to install the multi-lane free-flow system at 20 toll plazas that it says handle about 85% of traffic. Vehicles with RFID tags would be charged while moving beneath overhead gantries, using RFID readers and automatic number-plate recognition cameras instead of stopping at barriers.

At Ghazipur, gantries and cameras had been installed, but the control systems needed to operate them were still pending. Some equipment had also not been unpacked. Queues continued during the afternoon near the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Ghazipur toll plazas.

Traffic police checked that BS-IV vehicles not registered in Delhi did not enter, while toll staff checked RFID payments from commercial vehicles. MCD said it had deployed extra personnel at border points. It said two consecutive days of rain last week and a mid-September clearance from NHAI affected the schedule.

An MCD official said the system could begin at some toll points by the weekend, followed by trial runs.