NHAI ropes in MobiKwik for electronic toll collection

New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) Following the suspension of toll collection on all national highways till December 2, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday roped in mobile wallet firm MobiKwik to strengthen the use of mobile wallets for paying of tolls at national highways.

Its wallet service will soon be live at 391 toll plazas in India.

"The company has received an approval from NHAI to enable commuters across all toll plazas in the country pay cashless through its mobile wallet to avoid traffic congestion due to cash crunch," a company statement said.

The NHAI has given its nod to another mobile wallet company Paytm to manage electronic toll collections at national highways. Commuters will be able to pay toll using their mobile wallet accounts by scanning the QR code installed at the toll plazas.

The scarcity of physical cash is expected to impact the smooth traffic at tolls after December 2, given that common people are still struggling to procure cash. To solve this issue,the mobile wallet firm has been roped in to digitise toll plazas in India, it said.

"We appreciate NHAI’s support in making wallet payments ubiquitous in India. Commuters across the country can soon pay cashless at all toll plazas using the wallet. We have taken this step in the wake of demonetization, to avoid congestion at highways, owing to the ill effects of cash crunch," said company’s cofounder Bipin Preet Singh.