Vehicles with faulty FASTags at Kherki Daula toll plaza causing heavy loss, claims MCEPL

Gurugram: The concessionaire of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway has said that around 2,500-3,000 vehicles with faulty FASTags are passing through the Kherki Daula toll

Gurugram: The concessionaire of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway has said that around 2,500-3,000 vehicles with faulty FASTags are passing through the Kherki Daula toll plaza since the new electronic payment system was launched on December 15, causing a loss of ₹2-3 lakh per day.

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According to officials of the Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), the expressway concessionaire, the FASTag reading machines at the plaza are unable to read poor quality tags on some vehicles. It is also causing problem to several commuters as they have to argue with the toll management.

With some FASTags not being read by the machines, commuters tend to fight with the toll attendants and refused to pay the fee. As a result, the concessionaire is losing ₹2-3 lakh every day, said Skylark, the toll operator.

On an average, about 45-50,000 vehicles pass through the Kherki Daula toll plaza per day, the officials said.

For the problem, the MCEPL has blamed agencies issuing FASTags, saying that some tags are not of good quality and commuters have to face issues at the toll plaza. S Raghuraman, chief executive officer, MCEPL, said, “Commuters tend to argue and fight with toll officials why their FASTags are not being read by RFID reading machines. Most of them pass through the plaza without paying the toll, resulting in huge loss to us.”

The concessionaire had notified the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) about faulty FASTags in November last year. In a letter to NHAI, the MCEPL had stated, “The tags being issued are of low quality and don’t match with the standards prescribed by the Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL).” The concessionaire had further requested NHAI to take action against the manufacturers which are making FASTags.

Commuters who cross the Kherki Daula toll plaza complain that they are having troubles due to faulty tags. Sidharth Chauhan, a resident of Manesar, said, “What’s the point of having a FASTag when you have to wait at the toll plaza. Every single day my car’s tag is not read by the RFID machine. Has NHAI failed to successfully implement FASTags at the toll plaza?”

Commuters said that the highway authority has to find a solution to this problem. Smita Chauhan, who works in Manesar, said, “I have to move my vehicle right or left almost every day just to ensure that the FASTag is read. This is a tedious process and consumes a lot of time. The NHAI should look into this matter.”

NHAI officials said that the issue has been discussed in the headquarters and that they have already notified the manufacturers about it. “We have also seen that there is a supply deficit and we are looking into it,” NHAI chief general manager Amarendra Kumar had said in a letter to the joint secretary, ministry of road transport and highways, last month.