Jio Financial Services, through its subsidiary Jio Payments Bank, has won a government contract to install a new, high-tech toll collection system at two toll plazas i.e. Shahjahanpur and Manoharpura, on the Gurugram to Jaipur highway.
What special about this toll system?
The new toll system uses a technology called Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), which allows vehicles to pay tolls automatically without stopping. A more advanced version of this is called Open Road Tolling (ORT) or All-Electronic Tolling (AET), where there are no toll booths at all.
This toll system uses FASTag and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. This is part of a new toll collection method called Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF). It’s an advanced electronic system that:
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Automatically identifies vehicles and read license plates as they pass through.
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Charges the toll fee without making vehicles stop or slow down.
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The toll amount is deducted automatically — fast and smooth!
- Works on all lanes, not just special FASTag lanes.
How does it work?
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FASTag (RFID): Vehicles have a small electronic tag, like a FASTag, attached to their windshield which communicates wirelessly with sensors at the toll point. When the vehicle passes through a toll point, sensors installed on overhead gantries or at the roadside read the tag wirelessly. The toll amount is then automatically deducted from the driver’s prepaid account, allowing vehicles to pass through without stopping.
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ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition): It is a technology that uses special cameras to read your vehicle’s license plate. As anyone drive through a toll point, the cameras capture an image of your plate and convert it into text using software. This helps identify the vehicle, especially if the FASTag is missing or not working, and ensures the toll can still be charged correctly.
For vehicles without tags, high-resolution cameras take pictures of the license plate and use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read the number.
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DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication): is a wireless technology that allows quick and secure communication between a vehicle and the toll system. When a vehicle passes through a toll zone, the DSRC system exchanges data like vehicle ID and payment details within milliseconds. This ensures tolls are collected instantly and accurately, even at high speeds, without the vehicle needing to stop or slow down.
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GNSS (GPS-based navigation): which includes GPS, is a satellite-based technology that helps track the exact location of a vehicle in real time. In toll systems, GNSS can be used to monitor vehicle movement along the highway, calculate the distance traveled, and charge tolls based on that distance. This makes toll collection more flexible and accurate, especially for long routes or distance-based pricing.
These technologies together make toll collection fast, contactless, and smooth. This is part of a pilot project by the Indian government to make tolling easier and traffic-free across national highways. Eventually, this could be used all over India to reduce traffic jams at toll booths.
In July 2025, Jio Payments Bank started helping with FASTag-based toll collection and now manages toll operations at 11 different toll plazas across India. This means Jio is responsible for managing the toll collection process at those toll booths. They make sure the FASTag payments are processed correctly and the toll money goes to the right place.
Vinod Easwaran, CEO of Jio Payments Bank, said this move is part of their plan to make digital payments common in daily life and build smart infrastructure across the country. By using technology, they want to help improve how people travel and pay on highways, making things faster, easier, and more inclusive.
Jio is growing fast in the tolling business with high-tech solutions, and financially, the company is performing well earning more money but also spending more due to expansion and new investments.
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