As many as 250 toll plazas were fined by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for deducting toll tax from vehicles that did not cross the toll. FASTag users sometimes get toll deduction messages while their vehicles are at home or do not have access to toll plazas.
Officials said such mistakes are because of toll operators entering wrong numbers, either due to FASTag becoming unreadable or due to carrying the tags inside the wallets.
IHMCL currently imposes a penalty of Rs 1 lakh per violation in such cases. Due to this much-maintained penalty, reported TOI, such incidents are down 70%. Of the 30 crore FASTag transactions in the national highway toll plazas, IHMCL receives about 50 complaints every month.
“Customers have complained about unauthorized deductions on social media and lodged formal complaints to IHMCL. Customers complaining of unauthorized deduction should lodge complaints at 1033 or email them on [email protected]. Each case is thoroughly investigated. And if the complaint of such deduction or wrong manual transactions is validated, chargebacks to the customer are done immediately. The toll operator at fault, on the other hand, is fined Rs 1 lakh,” the official from IHMCL said.
The main reason behind all unauthorized deductions is wrong vehicle number entries done by operators during manual electronic transaction processing, opined the official.
FASTag is a prepaid, rechargeable tag that enables vehicles to pass through a toll gate without stopping by means of radio frequency identification technology. The system allows automatic deduction of toll fees from a prepaid account that can be managed via the FASTag application. This electronic tag, attached to a vehicle’s windscreen, communicates with the scanning equipment of the toll plaza.
FASTag was instituted by NHAIL, now mandatory on all vehicles. This electronic toll collection system has greatly benefited toll payments in India, reducing queues significantly, lowering fuel consumption and contact between individuals at toll booths.
Also Read: Good News! Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway: 68-Km Stretch Now Open For Commuters—Key Details Here
