After the pre-paid smart card, enter the smart tag.

Vehicles bearing the tag, a gadget fitted with a computer chip, will not have to stop at the toll plaza on Vidyasagar Setu for the gates to open. The barrier will be lifted automatically as a tagged vehicle approaches it.

The private company that is running the plaza, SMSL-IRD, is planning to introduce the smart tag as part of the Electronics Toll Collection (ETC) system.

?ETC is the most modern and sophisticated system of toll collection in the world,? said SMSL-IRD project director Vijay Sancheti. ?Nowhere in eastern India has the system been introduced. On Vidyasagar Setu, the system will be initially installed on one or two gates.??

At present, toll on the bridge is collected in cash or through the pre-paid smart card. Motorists having smart cards need not wait for an operator to open the gate. The gate opens as soon as the smart card is held before a machine kept at the entry of the plaza.

Under the ETC system, which runs on a Canadian technology, the vehicles will neither have to stop at the plaza to pay the toll nor produce smart cards. Instead, they will cross the gates unhindered.

Those want to avail of this system will have to procure a smart tag ? a gadget fitted with a computer chip ? from the company. The tag can be attached to any part of the vehicle. A machine that will be activated by the tag will be installed on the plaza gate.

When a vehicle with the tag approaches the plaza, the machine will get activated and the gate will open. A green signal will glow when a vehicle approaches the plaza, indicating that the way is clear. If there is any problem with the gate, the signal will be red.

?We have imported the machines and other equipment, worth Rs 2 crore, from Canada. The system will be introduced shortly,?? Sancheti said.

The cost of the smart tag ? which, too, will have to be brought from Canada ? has not been finalised.

SMSL-IRD officials said they are in talks with the Calcutta Tramways Company and minibus operators whether any concession can be provided to their vehicles. ?We are giving a 10 per cent discount on smart cards. Besides, the rate of toll here is low compared to other states,? said an official.