SpotGenie Fact: India’s First Expressway With Zero Toll Booths, Dwarka Expressway

Traditionally, toll collection in India has relied on physical booths and barriers, where vehicles must slow down or stop to pay user fees.
However, India is now poised to transform this paradigm with India’s first barrier-free expressway, the Dwarka Expressway, designed from the outset with no physical toll booths on the main carriageway.

🚗 What Makes This Expressway Special

Zero Physical Toll Plazas

The Dwarka Expressway, a major 28-km urban expressway connecting Delhi and Gurugram, will implement a Free Flow Tolling system, meaning:

• No stopping or slowing for toll booths
• No barriers or cash booths
• Vehicles travel uninterrupted at normal expressway speeds
  All toll collection will occur electronically and automatically.

📡 How Toll Collection Works Without Booths

Free Flow Tolling / Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF)

• Overhead gantries equipped with FASTag readers & cameras scan each vehicle.
• Toll charges are automatically deducted from linked FASTag accounts.
• Vehicles never stop or queue at a toll plaza.
  This is similar to modern tolling systems already in use in several countries worldwide.

Electronic Toll Enforcement

Instead of booths, compliance will be upheld via:

• FASTag scanning overhead
• License plate imaging
• Automated deduction from prepaid or bank-linked accounts
  The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is also exploring passive enforcement methods (e.g., linking unpaid tolls to vehicle records to prevent services like registration transfers unless dues are cleared).

🛣️ Why This Is a Major Innovation

1. Seamless Travel

Eliminates slowdowns and queuing at toll barriers, providing a smoother, faster expressway experience for motorists.

2. Reduced Congestion & Emissions

No idling or stopping cuts down congestion and reduces fuel wastage and emissions near toll zones.

3. Precursor to Satellite Tolling

This implementation also serves as a testing ground for future satellite-based tolling systems (GNSS/ GPS-assisted) planned nationwide.

🧠 A Nationwide Tolling Future

The move toward Zero Toll Booth Expressways aligns with a broader policy push by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to adopt barrier-free, satellite and free flow tolling nationwide by 2026, with pilots across multiple corridors.

Even though the exact toll charge structure on Dwarka Expressway is yet to be finalized, the infrastructure design is intentionally built without traditional booths, marking it as India’s first true expressway free of toll barriers.

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