NHAI drops plan for barrier-free tolling on Bengaluru-Mysuru highway

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The NHAI decides to focus on introducing a closed tolling system with multiple entry and exit points, under which motorists will be charged based on the exact distance travelled rather than paying a fixed toll for the entire corridor.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has shelved its proposal to convert the 117-km Bengaluru-Mysuru Access-Controlled Highway into a barrier-free, high-speed tolling corridor under the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) toll collection system, opting instead to implement a closed, distance-based tolling mechanism across the stretch.

The decision comes after a recent technical review of the project. The NHAI officials said that the authority has decided to focus on introducing a closed tolling system with multiple entry and exit points, under which motorists will be charged based on the exact distance travelled rather than paying a fixed toll for the entire corridor.

The Bengaluru-Mysuru Access-Controlled Highway (NH-275) had earlier been identified as one of the corridors where the NHAI planned to pilot the MLFF system. A tender for the implementation of the technology had also been floated as part of efforts to transform the highway into a congestion-free corridor by eliminating physical toll plazas.

However, the proposal has now been dropped in view of the authority’s decision to introduce distance-based tolling on the highway.

“We had initiated the process for implementing the MLFF tolling system and a tender was also floated. However, it was decided to proceed with a closed, distance-based tolling system on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Since both systems cannot be implemented simultaneously, the MLFF proposal has been kept in abeyance. Once the distance-based tolling mechanism is operational, we can evaluate the feasibility of introducing the MLFF at a later stage,” a senior NHAI official told The Hindu.

Under the MLFF system, conventional toll plazas would have been replaced by overhead gantries equipped with high-performance RFID F