Smart Cards on Tollways
With in a couple of years, you can expect the smart card you produce to pay toll tax along the IT Expressway in the city, to offer more services. For example, you can use it as a debit card at entertainment centres, hotels, fuel stations and parking lots along the expressway.
Efkon India, which enabled the smart card and the toll system on the IT Expressway intends to make the card a multi-purpose one. “But this necessitates installation of card readers at various locations on the IT Expressway, which may take up to two years. The smart card would function as a kind of a dedicated debit card,” said CEO Pushkar Kulkarni.
Efkon India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Austria-based Efkon, specializes in intelligent transportation systems and payment solutions on highways.
The graphics, personalisation and issuance of cards is being handled by IT Expressway Ltd (ITEL), a special purpose vehicle of Tamil Nadu Road Development Corp that developed the IT Corridor on Rajiv Gandhi Salai.
“Smart cards have to be touched at the readers located at the five toll plazas within the Expressway and the money is deducted from the cardholder’s account on ITEL’s website. According to the norms specified by the Reserve Bank of India, about Rs 20,000 can be stored on a card at a time if it is being used as a common purse for low value transactions,” Kulkarni told to The New Indian Express. Thereafter, it would have to be recharged with a fresh amount.
Efkon is also developing the Tiruchy tollway, which is currently in the design stage. “It will take another six months to complete.” Two more projects in traffic management systems and toll systems are underway between Salem and Kumarapalayam and Kumarapalayam and Chengapalli near Coimbatore. At present, they are in the installation and commissioning stage.
“While the setting up of the toll systems costs around Rs 5 crore, the traffic management system costs between Rs 5 crore and Rs 15 crore.Efkon sees fresh opportunity in the proposed toll roads in Karnataka.
“Developing the toll system for every 100 km of road means a Rs10 crore business for the company. Efkon holds a 50 per cent market share in the country,” pointed out Chief Technology Officer, V Rangarajan.
With the new projects in its kitty, the company’s revenue for present calendar year is expected to touch Rs 100 crore as against Rs 60 crore last year.
The credit crunch, he admitted, has affected new projects, as infrastructure companies are not being able to achieve financial closures.
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