Is ETC mandatory to apply for?
1 Answers
ETC is not mandatory to apply for. The Chinese government advocates for the application of ETC but does not enforce it, leaving it to the voluntary decision of vehicle owners. ETC, which stands for Electronic Toll Collection, is one of the service functions of the Intelligent Transportation System, particularly suitable for use on highways or in busy bridge and tunnel environments. Currently, there are dedicated ETC toll lanes at highway toll stations. Through dedicated short-range communication between the onboard electronic tag installed on the vehicle's windshield and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane at the toll station, the system utilizes computer networking technology to conduct backend settlement processing with banks. This enables vehicles to pass through highway or bridge toll stations without stopping to pay the tolls.