New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has come up with a plan to deter certain drivers who look to hoodwink authorities and avoid paying toll.
From now on, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will charge double toll tax from vehicles which don’t have affix FASTag on the front windshield from the inside.
NHAI has issued guidelines to collect double user fee from such users entering the toll lane with non-affixed FASTag on front windshield from the inside.
Deliberate non-affixation of FASTag on the windscreen by some vehicle owners leads to unnecessary delays at toll plazas, causing inconvenience to fellow National Highway users.
Hence, NHAI has issued detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to all User Fee Collection Agencies and Concessionaires to charge double user fee in case of non-affixation of FASTag on the front windshield.
The advisory will be prominently displayed at all User Fee plazas, informing highway users about the penalties for non-compliance of entering a toll lane without a fixed FASTag on front windshield.
CCTV footage with Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) at the toll fee plaza will be recorded of the non-affixed FASTag cases to maintain accurate record regarding the fee charged and presence of the vehicle in the toll lane.
As per already established rules, any FASTag that is not affixed on the assigned vehicle as per standard process is not entitled to carry out Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) transaction at a User Fee Plaza and will have to pay double toll fee as well as duly blacklisted.
Issuer banks have been directed to ensure fixation of the FASTag to the assigned vehicle on front windshield at the time of issuance from various Point-of-Sale (POS).
NHAI collects user fee for approximately 45,000 km of National Highways and Expressways at around 1,000 toll Plazas on National Highways across the country.
