Can I choose not to use ETC after installation?

[SanJayla]

It is acceptable to have ETC installed but not use it. According to the State Council regulations, vehicles without ETC or not using ETC in 2020 cannot enjoy toll discounts. In the future, only one manual lane will be retained at highway toll stations, requiring payment through manual channels. How ETC works: Through the on-board electronic tag installed on the vehicle's windshield, dedicated short-range communication is established with the microwave antenna in the ETC lane at the toll station. Computer networking technology is used for backend settlement processing with banks, enabling vehicles to pass through highway or bridge toll stations without stopping while paying the required fees. ETC charging principle: For ETC vehicles, the toll amount is rounded according to the "round down below 0.5" rule (i.e., amounts with a decimal less than 0.5 are rounded down, while amounts with a decimal equal to or greater than 0.5 remain unchanged). Then, a 5% discount is applied, followed by rounding to the nearest cent. MTC vehicles still follow the "round to the nearest yuan" rule. All this is based on the principle of passing first and deducting fees later. Benefits of installing ETC: Time-saving: Eliminates the hassle of waiting in queues; Green and eco-friendly: Promotes low-carbon travel by reducing noise and exhaust emissions as vehicles pass through toll stations without stopping; Cost-saving: Reduces vehicle wear and fuel consumption by minimizing frequent starts and brakes, and users can enjoy a 5% toll discount; Improved efficiency: Theoretically, ETC lanes can increase vehicle passing efficiency by 2-3 times, making traditional ETC more advanced, faster, and high-tech. Compared to license plate payment, ETC technology is more mature and advantageous. More policy support: The State Council explicitly stated in the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of a Modern Comprehensive Transportation System" that "by 2020, intercity transportation smart cards will be basically realized in key city clusters, and the proportion of vehicles equipped with ETC will significantly increase." It also set a clear target in the "13th Five-Year" comprehensive transportation development indicators: "By 2020, the ETC usage rate for road passenger vehicles will reach 50%." More future possibilities: In addition to continuously improving the convenience of ETC installation and usage and increasing the ETC adoption rate for passenger vehicles, future efforts will include promoting ETC for trucks and exploring deep integration of ETC systems with vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure coordination, and other smart transportation developments. This will provide comprehensive travel services for car owners, meaning more application scenarios will support ETC usage.