New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reliance Jio to introduce a telecom-based safety alert system across the national highway network in an effort to improve commuter safety and enhance travel experience.
According to an official statement, the initiative will use Jio’s existing 4G and 5G infrastructure to provide advance warnings to travellers approaching high-risk locations, including accident-prone stretches, stray-cattle zones, fog-affected areas and emergency diversions. Alerts will be delivered through SMS, WhatsApp and high-priority calls, enabling commuters to adjust their speed and driving behaviour well in advance.
The new system will be deployed in a phased manner and integrated with NHAI’s digital platforms, such as the ‘Rajmargyatra’ mobile application and emergency helpline number 1033. The automated service will function for all Jio users located on or near national highways, without requiring installation of additional roadside hardware, leveraging the telecom company’s network covering over 500 million subscribers.
NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav said the partnership represents “an important step forward” in delivering timely and reliable safety information to highway users and will set “a new benchmark in technology-enabled road safety management.” Jyotindra Thacker, President, Reliance Jio, stated that the initiative will utilise the reach of Jio’s telecom ecosystem to deliver timely alerts at scale and support safer travel nationwide.
A pilot deployment will be undertaken under select NHAI regional offices to support risk-zone mapping and alert threshold calibration. The initiative will comply with all applicable regulatory and data-protection norms, the release added.
NHAI also plans to undertake similar collaborations with other telecom service providers as it looks to deploy scalable, technology-driven solutions for safer, smarter and more efficient highway travel across the country.
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