The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has called upon the Delhi transport department to carry out regular and sustained enforcement drives against vehicle owners who tamper with their number plates to evade toll payments at the camera-based Mundka barrierless toll plaza. Tampering methods include erasing or hiding letters and numbers using paper or plastic.
Barrierless Toll System at Mundka
Under the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) or barrierless tolling system at the Mundka Bakkarwala plaza on the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II), which is the second such plaza on the national highway network, vehicles do not need to stop to pay toll charges. High-performance RFID readers and automatic number plate recognition systems integrated with AI-enabled cameras installed overhead allow seamless vehicle identification, and the toll amount is automatically deducted from the FASTag wallet linked to a vehicle.
Importance of HSRP and Clear Number Plates
TOI has learnt that NHAI has emphasized that the success of barrierless tolling depends on accurate and reliable readability of vehicle number plates. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that all vehicles passing through MLFF toll plazas are fitted with High Security Registration Plates (HSRP), ensuring clear visibility of both front and rear number plates.
"Any instance of tampered, non-standard, defaced, or obscured number plates will directly impair the automated tolling system, leading to revenue leakage and enforcement challenges for the government," NHAI stated. Officials noted that in most cases, such vehicles do not have FASTags affixed to their windscreens, making toll deduction impossible. Additionally, tracking such vehicles becomes difficult, and e-notices cannot be issued because without an exact registration number, vehicle owners cannot be identified through the Vahan database. Although the share of such vehicles passing through the toll plaza is less than 1%, there is an urgent need to address this issue.
Upcoming Implementation at Other Plazas
TOI has learnt that NHAI has written to authorities in states where MLFF is going to be rolled out. In the next few weeks, this system will be implemented at the Gharaunda toll plaza on the Delhi-Amritsar highway, as well as at Manoharpura, Shahjahanpur, and Daulatpura in Rajasthan on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
Compliance with E-Notices
Officials reported that nearly half of those who received e-notices after MLFF started at Chyorasi in Gujarat and Mundka in Delhi are paying their dues within the stipulated 72 hours. The number of e-notices is lower in the case of Delhi.
