New Delhi – In a major step toward enhancing road safety, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)announced on Tuesday that commuters on national highways will soon receive real-time safety alerts through SMS, WhatsApp messages, and high-priority voice calls. The initiative, aimed at preventing accidents and ensuring timely warnings about potential hazards, is part of a larger push to integrate technology with traffic management on India’s expanding highway network.

The NHAI said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Reliance Jio to implement the system, and similar partnerships with other telecom service providers are expected in the near future. The overarching goal is to create a unified, telecom-agnostic safety layer that reaches all highway users, regardless of their mobile network, thereby ensuring that every commuter benefits from real-time hazard alerts.

According to the NHAI, the alerts will provide detailed information about accident-prone stretches, zones with stray cattle, areas prone to fog and poor visibility, traffic congestion, ongoing road repairs, diversions, and other potential hazards. This proactive approach is expected to significantly reduce road accidents by giving drivers sufficient notice to adjust their speed, take alternate routes, or exercise extra caution.

The new system is designed to work in conjunction with NHAI’s existing digital infrastructure, including the Rajmargyatra mobile application and the 1033 emergency helpline, ensuring that verified and timely information reaches drivers when it matters the most. The integration with existing platforms will streamline communication and reduce confusion during emergencies, while providing commuters with a single point of reference for road safety updates.

A key feature of the initiative is that it relies entirely on existing telecom towers, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming installation of additional roadside infrastructure. This approach allows the system to be deployed rapidly at scale, covering large stretches of national highways and expressways in a relatively short time.

The NHAI said the project will initially be piloted in select regions under a few regional offices to test risk-zone identification and alert threshold mechanisms. Following the pilot phase, the system is expected to be expanded nationwide, covering all critical zones and high-traffic corridors.

Compliance and data protection are central to the project’s design. The NHAI emphasized that the alert system will adhere to all applicable regulatory requirements and data privacy norms, ensuring that users’ personal information is safeguarded while still delivering timely safety updates.

The move comes amid rising concerns over road safety in India, where highways and expressways have seen rapid expansion but also an increase in accidents due to over-speeding, poor visibility, and unexpected hazards. By leveraging digital communications and telecom networks, NHAI aims to empower drivers with the information they need to make safer decisions on the road.

Once fully operational, the initiative will mark a first-of-its-kind integration of telecom technology with national highway safety management in India, setting a benchmark for smart infrastructure solutions in the transport sector.