Jumping on the bandwagon of quick and easy mobile payments, Visa is slated to launch an open-loop contactless payment system at highway toll plazas across India, furthering the Reserve Bank of India’s Payment Vision 2018 of moving India to a less-cash society.
Visa anticipates that the system could drastically cut wait times at toll plazas, trading highway congestion for transit efficiency.
The first proof of concept launched at National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) Manesar Toll Plaza on Monday (May 15). Drivers can simply wave a card to pay or use a smart device, both of which can be used on other forms of transit such as buses and railways as well.
Here are the numbers:
400 | Number of toll plazas operated by NHAI
20,000 | Number of vehicles passing through NHAI toll plazas each day
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Five to 10 | Average minutes spent waiting to complete a toll payment
$21.3 billion | Estimated U.S. dollars lost by India each year, of which lost tolls comprise a major portion
$10 trillion | Total value exchanged in the “push” payments market, according to a 2016 Visa press release
