Now get ready to Pay double fee if no FASTag on windshield

If you keep your FASTag in your wallet or hand, be prepared to pay double user fees at NH toll gates.

On Tuesday, Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), the agency under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), notified the new norm amid instances of some people still carrying smart tags in hand & beating the system in closed tolling stretches such as expressways & greenfield highways from paying the user charge.

In a policy circular, IHMCL said that the toll operators or the toll collection agencies will charge the “user fee equivalent to two times” of the applicable charge in case any vehicle entering the “FASTag lanes” doesn’t have a tag fixed on the front of the windshield. It has instructed the toll collectors to put this information, including the provision of penalty, at plazas for public knowledge. The toll collectors have also been directed to “store the CCTV footage with clear vehicle registration number” of vehicles whenever the double user fee is collected. This will be used as evidence in case of any dispute.

The National Highways Authority of India Officials said this has been done to increase efficiency at toll plazas & to plug any leakage of revenue. They added that there have been several instances on Allahabad Bypass, Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway & some other greenfield highways where people have tried to avoid paying toll by using FATags which were not fixed on the windshield.

According to the news agency, an Official said, "Since we have close tolling on such stretches, the user fee is deducted only when a vehicle gets out of such a highway. There had been cases where people avoided paying toll at the exit by showing the FASTags kept in their wallets or inside the vehicle".

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