India has reached a significant milestone in its highway modernisation programme with the deployment of the country’s first operational AI-powered Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) electronic toll collection system. FETC International (FETCi) has brought the barrier-free RFID tolling technology live at two busy national highway sites, marking a shift away from traditional boom-barrier plazas that have long been a source of congestion across the subcontinent.
The two installations are located at the Choryasi Fee Plaza on National Highway 48 in Gujarat and the Gharaunda Toll Plaza on National Highway 44 in Haryana. Both sites are now fully operational under real traffic conditions, processing vehicles at highway speed without requiring them to stop or even slow down significantly.
The integrated system brings together several complementary technologies. RFID-based vehicle identification sits at the core, working alongside AI-powered vehicle classification, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), AI-based axle counting, and automated transaction validation. This layered approach ensures that tolls are captured accurately regardless of vehicle type, speed, or lane position.
Early performance data from the live deployments is encouraging. Under genuine traffic conditions, the system has achieved 99% vehicle detection accuracy, 99% ANPR accuracy, and 99% AI-powered vehicle classification accuracy. These figures are particularly notable given the complexity of Indian highway traffic, which includes everything from motorcycles and auto-rickshaws to heavy multi-axle trucks, all sharing the same carriageway.
The two sites are already handling substantial volumes. Choryasi processes approximately 41,500 vehicle transactions per day, while the busier Gharaunda plaza handles around 60,000 daily. Combined, the installations are processing roughly 101,500 transactions every 24 hours, providing a robust proof of concept for wider national rollout.
The projects were delivered through a collaboration between FETCi and ICICI Bank, operating under the supervision of the Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL). IHMCL oversees electronic toll collection infrastructure across India’s national highway network.
Richard Wu, Vice President of FETCi, highlighted the significance of the deployment, noting that AI-powered MLFF technology has proven it can perform reliably under India’s highly diverse traffic conditions. Wu pointed to Taiwan’s successful nationwide electronic toll collection experience as a foundation, while acknowledging the unique challenges posed by Indian roads, including the sheer variety of vehicle types and environmental factors such as dust and extreme temperatures.
The successful deployment at these two sites could accelerate India’s broader plans to modernise its toll collection infrastructure. The National Highways Authority of India has been exploring MLFF as a replacement for conventional toll plazas, which are widely criticised for causing bottlenecks and delays. With proven performance data now available from live operations, the case for scaling barrier-free RFID tolling across the national highway network has become considerably stronger.
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