The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) reports strong progress in its Electronic Tolling (E-Tag) modernisation initiative, with over 30 000 vehicles now registered on the newly launched system.
This development was announced during a media tour led by the Ministry of Roads and Infrastructure Development to inspect the ongoing rehabilitation of the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road and other roads.
At the Ntabazinduna Tollgate, the tour’s first stop, ZINARA and its technology partner InstaToll demonstrated the efficiency of the E-Tag system to journalists and officials.
E-Tag was launched in December 2024, enabling cashless, automatic toll deductions from a prepaid or linked accounts, improving efficiency for motorists and operators.
The system uses the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which is scanned by a reader mounted on the roof of the toll gate. If the vehicle’s prepayment is valid, the boom gate opens automatically unlike the previous manual operation operated by operators.
ZINARA Board Chairperson, George Manyaya, said they are happy that the uptake has increased.
“We have opened these E-tags to everyone. As we continue, we initially had a tag for e-wallet, and now we are introducing a ZINARA e-wallet linked to ZimSwitch, which allows you to transact within that wallet. You can pay your licensing and have fees deducted automatically when you pass a tollgate. These are some of the innovations we are introducing as ZINARA,” Manyaya said.
“What we are happy about is that the uptake has now increased. Remember, when it was first introduced, there was an outcry, with people saying it was only for Parliamentarians but its Parliamentarians who are urged to join.”
Manyaya said companies, especially those who are into distribution have actually registered to the e-tag.
“We have private citizens that registered so the uptake is good, we have 30 000 cars that are part of the E-tags,” he said .
InstaToll Tolling Operations Manager, George Mufuka, said the new solution has come after a surge in traffic over the past years.
“We operate nine toll gates. We are now operating a total of 58 lanes, and we have just added to the ones that we had in the past. So, this tollgate was the pioneer of all the tollgates that we have as InstaToll,” he said.
“We commissioned this (Ntabazinduna) tollgate in 2013. It was doing a total of 2 500 vehicles. But since then, as we have progressed, our total amounts to 25 000 per day. So, Ntabazinduna is a welcoming tollgate,” said Mufuka.
Western Region route Operations Manager, Lindiwe Mutandwa, said Ntabazinduna Tollgate ranks number three in terms of traffic processing as well as revenue collection.
“For the route as we speak from January to date the route has processed 12 508 974 vehicles and Ntabazinduna has contributed 10.43 percent of vehicles to that total amount of vehicles,” said Mutandwa.
“In terms of revenue, Ntabazinduna collects an average of US$35 000 per day.”
She said ZINARA has deployed an Automatic Vehicle Classifier (AVC), which uses dual classification systems to enhance accuracy and prevent revenue losses.
“We have Automatic Vehicle Classifier ( AVC), so we have two classifications that give the assurance that the money that you are paying at the toll free surely is going to the bank,” she said
Mutandwa said as part of the efforts to mitigate leakages following by-pass roads created by the birth of residential areas around the plaza area, they have introduced by-pass manning which is manned by traffic controllers.