NHAI will charge double toll from vehicles that do not have Fastag on the windshield, know the details

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has implemented severe steps to prohibit National Highway users from intentionally failing to place FASTag on their windscreens. The NHAI has released rules for charging double the amount to customers who enter the toll lane without affixing Fastag to the front windscreen from inside the vehicle. An official release stated on Thursday.

According to NHAI, purposefully not placing Fastag on the windscreen causes unnecessary delays at the toll plaza. This causes inconvenience for passengers on other national routes.

"Detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued to all user fee collection agencies and concessionaires to charge double user fee in case of non-fixation of FASTag on the front windscreen," the statement said.

According to the statement, this information will be prominently displayed at all user fee plazas informing national highway users about the penalty for entering toll lanes without a fixed FASTag on the front windscreen.

Further, the statement said, CCTV footage along with the vehicle registration number (VRN) will be recorded at the fee plazas of those vehicles whose FASTag is not fitted. This will help in maintaining proper records regarding the fee collected and the presence of the vehicle in the toll lane.

As per the already framed rules, the statement said that NHAI aims to implement standard procedural guidelines for affixing FASTag from the inside on the front windscreen of the designated vehicle.

Any FASTag which is not affixed on the designated vehicle as per the standard procedure is not entitled to carry out electronic toll collection (ETC) transactions at the user fee plaza, the statement said. And he will have to pay double the toll fee and can also be blacklisted.

The statement said that the issuing banks have also been directed to ensure that the Fastag is installed on the front windscreen of the designated vehicle while issuing it from various points-of-sale (POS).

NHAI collects user fee on national highways as per the National Highway Fee (Determination and Collection) Rules, 2008. At present, user fee is collected for about 45,000 km of national highways and expressways at about 1,000 toll plazas on national highways across the country.

With a penetration rate of about 98 percent and more than 8 crore users, Fastag has revolutionized the electronic toll collection system in the country.

This initiative of charging double user fee for not installing Fastag will help in making toll operations more efficient. It will also help in ensuring seamless and comfortable travel for national highway users.