The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has put the onus of the suspicious debit of FASTag account of a Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) official thrice at three toll booths on the Pune-Solapur Highway on October 27 on the bank which issued the tag to customer.
Civic official Suresh Pardeshi lost ₹240 through three debits from his FASTag account despite his car being at home and he in his office.
According to the complainant, initially he thought that his car could have been stolen but his family said the vehicle is parked at home. Pardeshi has petitioned the state and central authorities, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), to probe the cyber theft.
Besides Pardeshi, many victims have reported about wrong toll deductions through the FASTag portal and complained that NHAI is passing the buck and requesting them to inform 1033 toll free number.
Pardeshi, in his complaint, stated that he bought a FASTag from the bank for his Ambassador car (MH12 JA0717) on August 5, 2019, and has not travelled long distance since then. His bank account FASTag wallet had ₹500 on October 27 when three debits took place. At 10.04 am, ₹85 was deducted at Patal toll booth, ₹85 at Sardewadi toll both at 11.49 am and ₹70 at 12.18 pm as he received three SMS alerts from the bank. He wrote to the bank about the theft.
Later, the NHAI probe into the incident revealed that a Swift car passed through the toll booth at Patas. The car did not have FASTag as it was kept in the driver’s pocket. The toll booth staff scanned the FASTag and on receipt of toll fees allowed the Swift driver to pass through the booth.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the NHAI probe into the incident revealed that a Swift car passed through the toll booth at Patas. The car did not have FASTag as it was kept in the driver’s pocket. The toll booth staff scanned the FASTag and on receipt of toll fees allowed the Swift driver to pass through the booth.
{{/usCountry}}Surjit Singh, NHAI maintenance engineer, said, “FASTag was issued to the victim and the other person also. We cannot detain anybody in this case. When the Swift car passed through the toll booth, we checked the transaction video and found that the driver was using the FASTag of the complainant. It is a bank issue and they will clear it. We cannot approach the bank. We read the driver’s FASTag and recovered the toll amount. Such victims must contact 1033 for FASTag related issues. This could be a bank issue as documents of two persons could have been exchanged.”
Meanwhile, NHAI project director has ordered a probe into the case.