Gadkari's Old Toll Rate Promises Go Viral Amid GNSS Toll Rollout

As Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the implementation of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based toll collection system at select national highways, an old video of the BJP leader promising no toll plaza within 60 km on national highways has gone viral.

In the video, Gadkari made a remark during a Parliamentary session in 2022 where the union minister states that a toll tax would not be levied at collection points located within 60 km of each other. “Toll collection points that fall within 60 km of another toll booth will be closed in the next three months,” said the Union Minister in the video.

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Two years later, the 2022 video has gone viral. Gadkari also stated in it that people living near the toll plazas with Aadhar cards would be provided with passes.

आपके घर से 60 किमी के भीतर किसी भी टोल बूथ पर कोई टोल शुल्क देय नहीं है। इसके लिए आपको अपने आधार कार्ड से गुजरना होगा।@nitin_gadkari
यह केंद्र सरकार का आदेश है. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/GJQ5Nda26I

— SANJAY FADNAVIS (Modi Ka Parivar) (@sanjayfadnavis1) July 28, 2024

Several netizens pointed out that they are yet to see the policy in practice. One X user said, “This was limited only to the Parliament, rest of the people still have to pay toll tax,” while another stated, “Money is deducted from the fast tag. One toll is 10 KM away from my house. There is no exemption. No Aadhaar card is valid, all this is nonsense.”

Recently, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Gadkari said that a pilot study on the GNSS-based user fee collection system has been conducted on Karnataka’s Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 and Haryana’s Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709.