India gets its second barrier-free toll system at the Mundka-Bakkarwala toll plaza on UER-II

India has got its second Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) barrier-free toll system at the Mundka-Bakkarwala toll plaza on Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) in Delhi on Monday. This comes on the heels of the launch of the MLFF barrier-free toll system at the Choryasi toll plaza on the Surat-Bharuch section of NH-48 in Gujarat, inaugurated earlier this month. The Choryasi toll plaza was the first in India to receive the barrier-free toll system. The new MLFF barrier-free toll system at the Mundka-Bakkarwala toll plaza in Delhi was inaugurated by Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to roll out more MLFF system-enabled tolling at the national highway toll plazas across the country during the current financial year. By September 2026, in the first phase, the NHAI plans to launch this system at 17 toll plazas across nine states in India. These 17 toll plazas will be in states such as Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Assam. Also, in the second phase, an additional 108 plazas will be covered under the second phase, which will be completed by March 2027.

What is MLFF barrier-free toll system?

The Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) is an advanced barrier-free tolling system designed to eliminate the conventional physical toll booths and stop-and-go traffic on the national highways across India. With this system, instead of stopping at a gate, vehicles pass under overhead gantries at normal highway speeds, which may range between 80 kmph and 100 kmph. The state-of-the-art system enables seamless toll collection without requiring the passing vehicles to stop, using advanced technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera and high-performance FASTag RFID readers, and LiDAR/radar for vehicle classification. The technology automatically processes the payment.

In a nutshell, physical boom barriers and conventional toll booths are replaced by smart overhead gantries equipped with cameras and sensors. This MLFF barrier-free toll system is aimed at reducing congestion and delays at the toll plazas, reducing pollution levels, saving fuel costs and improving travel time, besides giving a better driving experience.

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