Faulty FASTags will lead to double toll at Kherki-Daula plaza

The gazette notification read, “Provided further that user of the vehicle not fitted with FASTag or vehicle without valid, functional FASTag entering into FASTag lane of the Fee plazas shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category of vehicles (sic)”.

The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) on Friday stated that a vehicle without a FASTag or with a damaged one will be charged double the normal toll amount as a penalty at the Kherki-Daula toll plaza. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)also started charging commuters with faulty FASTags from May 15—the day the notification came out.

NHAI officials said that they are targeting commuters who do not have FASTags but often enter FASTag lanes and end up paying double the toll as a penalty. (Yogendra Kumar/HT file photo)

The gazette notification read, “Provided further that user of the vehicle not fitted with FASTag or vehicle without valid, functional FASTag entering into FASTag lane of the Fee plazas shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category of vehicles (sic)”.

NHAI officials said that they are targeting commuters who do not have FASTags but often enter FASTag lanes and end up paying double the toll as a penalty.

Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI Gurugram said, “We have started implementing the notification to charge double penalty from commuters with an invalid tag or inadequate balance and entering FASTag lanes as per the gazette notification. We are also targeting those who still use cash lanes and have not obtained FASTags yet, persuading them to obtain the same at the earliest.”

Officials of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway concessionaire Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL) said, on an average, NHAI collects ₹2 lakh in penalty daily at the Kherki Daula toll plaza.

NHAI has directed the toll officials to collect double the normal toll charges if any commuter is found entering a FASTag lane without a tag or with a faulty tag.

Anish John, systems manager, MCEPL, said, “We are collecting a double penalty since December when the FASTag system was started at the Kherki-Daula toll plaza. This time MoRTH has made it mandatory for the toll officials to collect double the penalty from even those who have a FASTag, but a faulty one.”

Every time commuters cross a FASTag lane without a valid or non-functional tag, they have to pay double the toll amount of ₹130 at the Kherki Daula toll plaza. This eventually wastes a lot of time for the drivers of vehicles standing in the queue and increases their waiting time.

Rajendra Bhati, project head, Kherki Daula toll plaza, said, “If a commuter’s FASTag account falls short of the required toll charges, they will be blacklisted. Such people will have to pay a penalty.”