Recent Technological Initiatives of NHAI

1. Recent Technological Initiatives of NHAI The technology is progressing like never before. It is evident in the rate of technological upgradation happening across the world. The governments are leveraging technology like never before. Many of the problems, which have been dragging the development of the world, could be solved using various technologies and their applications. So, the government of India is leaving no stone unturned in using technology to churn out changes from the technology. It has advised its departments and bodies to prepare a ground for digitalisation. Accordingly, the NHAI has been implementing tech-based initiatives. The National Highways Authority of India is a statutory body established under NHAI Act 1988. This autonomous body functions under the aegis of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The NHAI is vested with the responsibility of developing, managing and maintaining of the allocated portion of the National Highway Network. The amount of trade happening across the country has been raising its bars day on day, which could be attributed to financial reforms. But, without investing much on the trade-facilitating infrastructural front, it wouldn’t be possible for the government to tap the benefits of the reforms. In India, the national highways are considered as trade facilitators as they support 40% of all the trade happening across the country, though they constitute just 2% of the Indian roadways. For the same reason, they are also referred as arterial networks of India. So, the government has been investing in the development of national highways to absorb the problems that would be arising from trade-traffic. In the process of meeting its objectives, the NHAI has been making ways for diverse technologies. Some of its tech-based innovations are: FASTag To control congestion near Toll Plazas, the NHAI along with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced FASTag Toll collection system. Many of the Fin-tech companies came forward to complement this initiative by the government of India. FASTags are coded unique tags, which works on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Commuters can purchase the FASTags from the authorised dealers. They should be linked to the bank accounts in order to make them function. Commuters need to fix the FASTags to their vehicles’ windscreens to allow the RFID sensors to easily detect. When a FASTagged vehicle passes by the FASTag-enabled Toll Plaza, then without any human intervention the Toll would be deducted from the bank accounts linked to that. Commuters would receive once their Toll payments are processed. Sukhad Yatra App To empower the highways’ commuters to demand accountability and getting their issues solved, the NHAI with its technical partners has come up with a mobile application named Sukhad Yatra, which means ‘Happy Journey’. Using this App, the commuters can report on the conditions and maintenance of national highways and also can produce visual evidence.

2. There are many commuter-centric features embedded in this App such as Nearby Toll Plaza, Report an issue, Nearby, and Toll Plaza Enroute. Commuters can get to know information about all the Toll Plazas prior to the start of their journeys. The NHAI has also provided commuters with an option of Purchasing FASTag from this App. There are a lot more developments that would be coming from the NHAI and a lot of developments would be powered by technological advancements in the coming days. #SukhadYatra #FASTagTollPlaza