Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) in India

Road infrastructure in a country is one of its lifeline, which requires continuous development and maintenance. The concerned authorities [Figure 1] for toll plazas and roadways development in India are MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways), NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) and SHA (State Highway Authorities). After decades of social and technological development, the first RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based AFCS (Automatic Fare Collection System) in India was implemented on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway in April 2013. Continuous development led to the implementation of RFID based AFCS in 2014 (named as FASTag). However, due to various factors including lack of awareness, resources and other factors, the target of 200, 000 AFCS users till March 2017 fell short. The current status of the RFID based AFCS (FASTag) in India is still below the required level of implementation as each toll plaza having 10 or above lanes only has 1 or 2 FASTag lanes installed This research encompasses the issues and challenges faced by the commuters as well as the authorities regarding the current state of the Indian toll plazas and how RFID based AFCS can benefit them. For this, surveys and interviews were conducted with commuters and toll plaza operators.