Latest news with #VUmashankar
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Soon FASTag may be used to buy insurance, pay challans
You may soon be able to use your vehicle's FASTag to pay traffic challans , parking fee, insurance premium and for EV charging , in addition to highway tolls . With nearly 11 crore FASTags issued by banks, the govt is exploring ways to expand its use as a flexible payment tool. To take this forward and firm up the next phase of FASTag growth, the road transport and highways ministry and the NHAI on Wednesday held a brainstorming workshop with top officials from the finance ministry and fintech firms. Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said through collaboration with fintechs and other stakeholders, the govt aims at expanding the utility of FASTag into a robust platform that will 'enhance user convenience, streamline transport and mobility services'. Sources said road transport secretary V Umashankar said while FASTag has largely introduced manless tolling and eliminate barriers this can be used for other purposes linked to vehicles, such as paying for fuel, insurance premium and traffic challan, as the govt has enforced the 'one vehicle, one tag' rule. On the prospect of allowing insurance companies to issue FASTag to increase coverage of insured vehicles from 50% to 75%-90% in three years, the secretary said this is possible but there is a need to cleaning the 'Vahan' database, which has around 7.5 crore inactive vehicles.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Soon FASTag may be used to buy insurance, pay challans
NEW DELHI: You may soon be able to use your vehicle's FASTag to pay traffic challans, parking fee, insurance premium and for EV charging, in addition to highway tolls. With nearly 11 crore FASTags issued by banks, the govt is exploring ways to expand its use as a flexible payment tool. To take this forward and firm up the next phase of FASTag growth, the road transport and highways ministry and the NHAI on Wednesday held a brainstorming workshop with top officials from the finance ministry and fintech firms. Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said through collaboration with fintechs and other stakeholders, the govt aims at expanding the utility of FASTag into a robust platform that will 'enhance user convenience, streamline transport and mobility services'. Sources said road transport secretary V Umashankar said while FASTag has largely introduced manless tolling and eliminate barriers this can be used for other purposes linked to vehicles, such as paying for fuel, insurance premium and traffic challan, as the govt has enforced the 'one vehicle, one tag' rule. On the prospect of allowing insurance companies to issue FASTag to increase coverage of insured vehicles from 50% to 75%-90% in three years, the secretary said this is possible but there is a need to cleaning the 'Vahan' database, which has around 7.5 crore inactive vehicles. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
NDTV
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- NDTV
Long-Nose Trucks Making A Comeback, Decision Rests With The Centre
The Indian government is planning to bring back the long-nose trucks in India. The long-nose trucks, prominent in the 1990s, is a design of trucks that have a protruding hood and engine in front of the driver. The modern truck on sale in the Indian market has a modern look and has, most of the time, its engine placed under the driver's cabin. Now, V Umashankar, Union Road Transport and Highway Secretary, has hinted that the Long-nose truck may be back on the Indian roads. Long-nose trucks are likely to be back in India During the Urban Adda 2025, a three-day urban mobility conference organized in Delhi, V Umashankar explained that driving is based on sensory perceptions, and when the driver is sitting above the engine and the hood, it allows him a few extra seconds to calculate the space and time and reduce the risk. Also, this alteration can give drivers a better scope for responding swiftly. While the flat-nose trucks and the long-nose trucks have their share of advantages and disadvantages. The flat-nose trucks give a better seating space to the drivers, along with better vision of the road. On the other hand, the long-nose trucks might kill much of the cabin space but tend to offer a better overview of the vehicles running ahead of the truck. Umashankar said the ministry will soon commence the consultations with truck manufacturers and other stakeholders to facilitate the transition. Also, he hinted that even if the decision to roll out the nose-long truck is enforced, it will at least take two years for the manufacturers to restructure the assembly line and comply. Umashakar also said that the government is also planning the possibility of introduce puller-trailers in India to enhance freight efficiency and reduce logistics costs.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Centre may bring back dog-nose trucks
The Centre is working on new regulations that may soon bring back the 'dog nose' design for trucks and heavy vehicles — a structural change that could improve road safety and logistics efficiency, Union road transport and highways secretary V Umashankar said on Tuesday. The 'dog nose' refers to a truck design in which the engine and hood protrude in front of the driver's cabin — a common sight until the late 1990s. That design gave way to flat-faced cabins when regulations started limiting the length of freight vehicles, which in turn began incentivised maximising cargo space. This, he said, inadvertently, may have introduced safety risks. Umashankar now says that this seemingly small change could be crucial to improving visibility and reaction time on highways. 'After all driving is based on sensory perception, your mind calculates based on what you see and takes actions. So, if the driver is not sitting on top of the engine, he can have a little bit of extra time.' 'This simple alteration gives drivers that extra bit of space and time — a space cushion — to see ahead and respond better,' he said. Umashankar was speaking at the sidelines of Urban Adda 2025, a three-day urban mobility conference in Delhi organised by the Raahgiri Foundation in partnership with the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) and GuruJal, and supported by Nagarro. HT is the media partner for the event. Automobile safety experts say both flat-fronted and dog-nosed configurations have their own advantages. An automobile designer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, 'In high-speed scenarios, the extra space provided by the nose would give better reaction time for the drivers, but flat-fronted trucks offer better visibility, which might be more advantageous in non-high-speed conditions, and particularly keeping in mind pedestrian safety.' Umashankar said the ministry will soon begin consultations with truck manufacturers and other stakeholders to facilitate the transition. However, even if the regulation is enforced today, it would take at least two years for manufacturers to rework assembly lines and comply. Beyond truck design, Umashankar said the government is also exploring the introduction of 'puller trailers' — multiple-trailer configurations already in use in several developed countries — to enhance freight efficiency and reduce logistics costs. 'We can have not just single, but multiple trailer systems. This will bring down the cost of freight movement and make the economy more efficient,' he said. He added that road safety issues are not inherently complicated but require cooperation between authorities and citizens at the local level. 'You need entire neighbourhoods to act as pressure groups. That's when real change happens,' he said. Drawing from his experience as municipal commissioner in Gurugram and Faridabad, Umashankar noted that urban mobility remains a pressing issue in most Indian cities. In many dense urban areas, app-based cab services are filling the gaps left by inadequate bus systems, he said. 'These services have not reduced congestion, but they have provided a certain level of mobility,' he said, adding that the government will come up with aggregator guidelines by the end of the month, which will cover safety, service availability, and driver welfare. He also struck a note of caution on metro rail as a silver-bullet solution to urban transit woes. 'Yes, metros can do bulk people movement, but Mumbai, for example, is a typical city which grew because it had a rail network that developed in the early 1900s when land was available and affordable. Today, creating a metro system takes 5–10 years. Without a complete network, ridership stays low,' he said. He pointed to his own tenure in Gurugram, where he helped launch a public bus service funded by a 1% surcharge on real estate transactions. That viability gap fund made fares affordable. 'Now, most cities do not make this kind of provision. So, we have loss-making services,' pointing to the failing service levels and bus ridership across major cities in India.' 'India to build all its highways by 2040'
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Toll Booth Removal: Delhi to Eliminate Physical Toll Booths at Borders with New Tech Implementation, ET Infra
Advt Advt In a move that could reduce, if not end, the long queues at the Capital's borders, agencies including Delhi govt, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the road transport ministry on Friday unanimously agreed to remove physical booths on the highways to collect entry fee and green cess from commercial a meeting chaired by Union road transport secretary V Umashankar, it was decided to have Multi-Lane Free Flow (MMLF) toll and entry fee collection system with MCD stating that completely doing away with entry tax would cause revenue loss of around Rs 800 crore annually and severely dent its finances, sources MMLF is deployed, vehicles will not have to stop as overhead cameras across the lanes can read the vehicle registration number and deduct the charge from FASTag wallet linked to the has learnt that there was also unanimity among all agencies to find a solution to the collection of Environment Compensation Cess (ECC) or green cess collected from heavy commercial vehicles entering Delhi at borders, which causes long traffic snarls on NHs and expressways connecting Delhi. The meeting was attended by officials including Delhi chief secretary Dharmendra and MCD commissioner Ashwini said while the municipal corporation has approached the Supreme Court seeking a single unified value for ECC, which would pave the way for integration of FASTag and MCD's RFID tags to collect the green tax and entry fee, Haryana govt has pleaded for stopping ECC collection altogether. They added that now NHAI will also approach the apex court seeking a similar relief citing that now two peripheral expressways are operational for vehicles that are not destined for said road transport minister Nitin Gadkari will soon chair a meeting to take stock of the plan and progress of getting rid of these traffic choke points at Delhi borders. Long traffic jams have become the new normal on NHs and expressways due to physical booths which have been put up for collection of entry fee and ECC at five points - Sirhaul, Ghazipur, Badarpur, Tikri and Kundli. While taxis and trucks are mandated to have a pre-paid instrument, drivers often avoid recharging them and end up paying cash, adding to the meeting also took stock of the progress of the plans to decongest Ashram-Badarpur section of NH-2 and plan for an elevated road from INA to Nelson Mandela Marg near Vasant Kunj and its extension to Gurgaon-Faridabad road. NHAI informed the meeting that the authority has invited bids for preparing detailed project reports for these two roads.
