Mumbai, Nov. 9 -- The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) toll collection system at Delhi's borders has been delayed from its originally planned 31 October launch. Equipment installation is under way at 20 border locations, while trials at major points, including Ghazipur, are scheduled to begin this week.

The system uses overhead gantries fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers, sensors and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. These devices identify commercial vehicles entering Delhi and enable toll charges and the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) to be collected digitally without vehicles stopping at a toll plaza.

An MCD official said the 20 major border points account for around 85 per cent of total traffic volume and would be made operational after the trial period. The trials will compare data captured by the new ANPR and RFID equipment with records from the existing RFID-based system before the system is activated across the sites.

The project has faced delays because approval was required for installations at toll plazas under the jurisdiction of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The approval process took about one and a half months, allowing installation work to begin only towards the end of September. Rainfall over three days also slowed work, according to the civic body.

The MCD introduced RFID collection at 13 major toll plazas in 2018, but insufficient tag balances and vehicles using express lanes without paying have continued to require manual collection. The resulting queues have increased fuel consumption and pollution, prompting concerns during Delhi's winter pollution season and scrutiny from the Supreme Court. Under the new contract, the selected agency will collect tolls at 154 MCD plazas and install the MLFF system. The agency is to spend about Rs. 2 bn on the technology, while the contract is projected to generate annual toll revenue of around Rs. 9.64 bn for the MCD.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.