Sans RFID, commercial vehicles entering Delhi to pay heavy penalty

Commercial vehicles entering Delhi without radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags will have to cough up a heavy penalty from Friday (August 23) night, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation enforcing the new rule in the national capital.

According to authorities, after three weeks, vehicles without RFID tags will not be allowed to enter the city. Once a person buys an RFID tag and pastes it on his registered vehicle, the environment compensation charge will be deducted at 13 toll plazas automatically.

“After the Friday midnight deadline, non-RFID vehicles will have to pay twice the basic amount of environment compensation charge in the first week. It will become four times in the second week and six times in the third,” Additional Commissioner of South Delhi Municipal Corporation Randhir Sahay said.

“After three weeks, entry of commercial vehicle will be completely on the basis of RFID tags,” he added.

Sale of such tags will continue at the points of sale installed at the 13 RFID toll plazas. Six additional points have been set up in satellite towns of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Posters and banners have been put up and public announcements are being made at several locations to inform vehicle owners about the decision, officials said.

Till Friday afternoon, 1.6 lakh RFID tags were sold. The RFID system will help smoothen the traffic movement and bring down pollution levels, officials said.

“Currently, it takes 15-20 seconds for a vehicles to cross a toll plaza. With the RFID infrastructure in place, it will take only 4-5 seconds,” said Aakash Sinha of Tecsidel India Pvt Limited which is carrying out the RFID installation work.

The SDMC has also come up with a mobile application, “MCD TOLL”, to make recharge of RFID tags hassle-free. Around 300 cameras have been installed at different spots at the 13 RFID toll plazas that will live stream videos to a control room set up in Mochi Bagh.