UPSC Mains 2024 GS3 Q6: model answer
What is the technology being employed for electronic toll collection on highways? What are its advantages and limitations? What are the proposed changes that will make this process seamless? Would this transition carry any potential hazards?
What the question wants
FASTag RFID, pros and cons, GNSS-based tolling and its risks.
How to structure it
Intro: FASTag and RFID. Body: (1) advantages; (2) limitations; (3) proposed GNSS/ANPR tolling; (4) hazards of transition. Conclusion: phased, privacy-safe rollout.
- 1(1) advantages
- 2(2) limitations
- 3(3) proposed GNSS/ANPR tolling
- 4(4) hazards of transition
Model answer
India uses FASTag, a passive RFID tag on the windscreen read at toll plazas and linked to a bank or wallet; mandatory since February 2021.
- Reader at toll plaza
- Flat charge per plaza
- Slows vehicles
- Satellite tracking via on-board unit
- Pay by distance
- Barrier-free, but privacy risk
Advantages
- Waiting time cut; less fuel waste and pollution.
- Cashless, transparent collection; data for traffic planning.
Limitations
- Vehicles still slow at plazas; reader failures and queues.
- Tag misuse, blacklisting errors, double deduction.
- Flat charges regardless of distance travelled.
Proposed changes
- GNSS-based tolling: in 2024, rules allowed charging by distance using satellite tracking via an on-board unit, with free travel up to 20 km a day.
- ANPR cameras for barrier-free tolling.
Hazards
- Privacy and surveillance concerns from location tracking.
- Signal loss in hills and cities; GPS spoofing.
- Enforcement against non-payers.
A phased rollout with NavIC and a data protection safeguard can make tolling seamless.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
FASTag RFID GNSS tolling ANPR NavIC privacy
Where most answers lose marks
- Not answering the hazards part.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/QP_CSM_2024_GenStud_III_03102024.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.