The Supreme Court on Monday urged the Delhi government to shed its reluctance and embrace suggestions for installing radio-frequency identification device (RFID) to levy entry cess, along with toll tax, on commercial vehicles entering the Capital.
Asking it not to adopt an “obstructionist” attitude, a Bench of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur appointed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to execute the project. “The whole world has the RFID system,” the Bench said.
It suggested that the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) collected from commercial vehicles entering Delhi can itself be used to fund RFID installation at the 13 entry points to the capital. “We are in the 21{+s}{+t}century. Many countries have adopted the technology several years ago,” the court observed orally.
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The Bench’s observations came in response to the Delhi government’s submission that its transport department was doing a re-think on RFID. The hearing saw the court receive an August 10 report of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), which had examined the feasibility of the RFID system for effective collection of ECC.
Senior advocate and amicus curiae Harish Salve said Rs. 125 crore would be required over a period of five years to implement the RFID project and Rs. 432 crore would be collected per annum. The Bench also directed the Delhi government to release Rs. 93 lakh as fees to RITES within six weeks for vetting the project.
Court said tech could be used to levy green cess and toll tax on commercial vehicles entering the Capital