Kherki Daula toll plaza: Motorists forced to pay double as FASTag fails to flag low balance

According to the data shared by the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway concessionaire, over 3,000 commuters were caught unawares, between January 27 and February 1, when they

According to the data shared by the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway concessionaire, over 3,000 commuters were caught unawares, between January 27 and February 1, when they were stopped at the Kherki Daula toll plaza and told to pay twice the toll amount because the balance in their FASTag accounts was insufficient for e-transfer.

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Every fourth vehicle at each booth ends up paying double the amount due to defaulting on the electronic toll payment.

Defaulting vehicles are blacklisted or termed defaulter vehicles, Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL) officials said, adding that the FASTag, unlike a Metro card, cannot be scanned to know the balance amount.

In the last one week, the number of commuters with FASTag, who have paid double the toll amount as a penalty, has grown from 3,111 on January 27 to 3,703 on February 1, the officials said.

“Double toll penalty is imposed on commuters who come to the toll with insufficient balance in their FASTag account,” MCEPL systems manager Anish John said.

While commuters said they were caught unawares as they did not get balance updates from their banks, the latter claimed they routinely send SMSs.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), on its part, washed its hands off the situation, saying it has provided 1033 as toll free number for FASTag complaints.

“We are pursuing commuters to maintain adequate balance in FASTag account; it all depends upon the individual,” NHAI (Gurugram) project director Ashok Sharma said.

The FASTags are sold by public and private sector banks, which allow transfers through their own wallets. However, in the absence of any guidelines or rules by the NHAI, and lack of notifications from the bank, as claimed by commuters, motorists have often found themselves at the raw end of the deal.

“Paytm users can know the balance amount in the app itself for other banks I have no idea. I am not aware of NHAI issuing any guidelines for minimum balance,” Paytm associate vice-president Ajay Garg said.

The HT could not reach out to other banks for comment on the matter.

Commuters told HT that on most occasions they don’t know the balance amount in their FASTag accounts and expressed their disappointment with the highways authority for rolling out a programme that hasn’t been thought through.

“We face a new problem every day. We don’t know the balance amount in the FASTag. Should I call up my bank each time I cross the Kherki-Daula toll plaza to keep a tab on my FASTag account?” Sector 90 resident Manish Singh said.

Kherki Daula toll plaza project head Rajendera Bhati said that in case of low balance, the boom barrier does not lift and hand-held readers are used to scan the FASTag. “The tags are scanned by the booth attendant, and within seconds the attendant knows whether the commuter has been blacklisted or not,” Bhati said.

“Blacklisted vehicles tend to spend at least one minute at the toll plaza. First, the hand-held reader will tell them that they don’t have money in the FASTag. Secondly, the commuters have to pay double the toll amount in cash,” said John.

This process, officials said, slows down the traffic and defeats the purpose of introducing the electronic toll collection system.