3.6. E- Initiatives

E-tolling: In order to remove traffic bottle neck at toll plazas and ensure seamless movement of vehicles and hassle-free collection of toll, the Government has implemented a nationwide Electronic Toll Collection based on passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) conforming to EPC Gen-2, ISO 18000-6C standards. It provides for electronic collection of toll through FASTags.

E- Tolling was facilitated in a big way after demonetization. After the initial suspension of toll collection in November 2016, when tolling was resumed from 3rd December, elaborate arrangements were made for payment of fees through swipe machines and E wallets and FASTags at all toll plazas on the National Highways. Collection of fee through electronic means was just about 5 percent in Oct-Nov 2016. This rose to about 11 percent by mid-December.

PMIS: An online state-of-the-art real time Project Monitoring and Information System (PMIS) has been developed to digitally monitor 2000+ projects executed by multiple agencies. The PMIS has detailed dashboards for every project and generates custom reports required for project reviews. Customized dashboards have been developed for the Minister of Road Transport and Highways for regular monitoring of progress.

INFRACON is the National Portal for Infrastructure Consultancy Firms and Key Personnel. This portal acts as a kind of bridge between consultancy firms working in the road engineering and construction sector and domain experts and key personnel who are deployed both for project preparation and supervision. The portal hosts the credentials of consultancy firms and key personnel and has linkages to Aadhar and Digi-locker for data validation and purity. 474 consultancy firms and 2387 key personnel under various categories are already registered with the portal.

INAM-PRO has been developed as a web-based application (www.inampro.nic.in) for Infrastructure and Material Providers. It is a kind of a web based market place that brings together the material providers and the prospective buyers on a common platform. The platform was launched in March, 2015 to facilitate contractors and cement buyers engaged in executing central/state funded roads and highways and bridge construction projects to place cement orders online with the registered cement companies offering cement at competitive rates in the vicinity of project execution locations. Given the success of INAM-PRO with cement, other materials like steel and steel slag have also been brought on this platform so as to make this as a comprehensive e-market place for infrastructure providers.

Driving License and Registration Certificates have been linked with the Digilocker scheme as a part of the key initiative under Digital India. With this integration people will no longer need to carry around physical copies of their RCs and Driving Licences. They can instead access digital copies of the same on their mobile phones via the DigiLocker mobile app. Driving Licenses and Vehicle Registration documents can now be issued directly to the DigiLockers of individuals in digital formats. These digital copies can be shared with other departments as identity and address proof. They will also be used for on the spot verification through the citizen’s mobile, by various law enforcement authorities like the Traffic Police. Besides being convenient for people, this will also result in assured authenticity of such documents and reduction of administrative overhead.