More than six crore FASTags have been issued till October last year

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has informed that more than six crore FASTags have been issued as on October 31, 2022. However, the department said that it has no information available about the number of faulty FASTag cases and the total amount of penalty collected from users despite having their vehicles fitted with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

In case a motorist does not have a FASTag or it is non-functional, then the person has to pay double the toll charges at toll plazas. However, the government body said that it does not have any information about the number of faulty FASTag cases and the total amount of penalty collected from users.

In response to RTI queries about the number of faulty FASTag cases and the amount of penalties collected from the users for non-functional FASTags, NHAI said, "no such data is available".

FASTag has been made mandatory for all private as well as commercial vehicles since February 16, 2021. Total toll collection through FASTag since 16 February 2021 to 16 April 2022 as per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data for NHAI fee plaza is ₹39,118.15 crore, NHAI informed in the RTI reply. The total toll collection for NHAI fee plaza during FY22 stood at ₹34,535 crore, the RTI reply said.

Currently, 24 banks can issue FASTag. However, there are complaints from users that FASTags sometime do not function properly at toll plazas as a result of which they have to pay double the toll charges. NHAI has set up helpline no. 1033 to address queries and complaints at national highway fee plazas.

While most of the complaints are resolved instantly by the customer care executive, some are forwarded to concerned NHAI regional offices and banks for necessary resolution, NHAi informed.