FASTag

Pune

Mumbai

National Highways Authority of India

NHAI

(PIC: BANDU YEWALE)

Around 12 lakh complaints have piled up regarding FASTag snags

This is not the first time the government has rolled out mandates without the infrastructural wherewithal to carry them through. A day before thewas to become mandatory for travel on the expressway betweenand, the Union ministry of road transport and highways, pushed the deadline by a month.The back-story is that about 12 lakh complaints have piled up on the FASTag website protesting the malfunctioning of the system, charging travellers much more than the stated toll and) unable to supply the volume of tags being demanded.The FASTag — a radio frequency identification sticker pasted on vehicles taking the road which can be read by scanners at the toll plazas — has been in operation for two years now. Earlier only one lane was dedicated to FASTtag but now all the lanes have been equipped to read the sticker. To incentivise the use of the tag, the toll was discounted by 2.5 per cent to Rs 230.The collection pattern was divided according to the direction of travel, with Rs 173 being collected at the first toll plaza and the remaining Rs 57 at the second, with Talegaon being primary toll plaza for those travelling from Pune, and Khalapur being the first stop for those coming from Mumbai.Interestingly, people who moved to FASTag when it was introduced say that they did not experience any technical glitches in the system earlier. However, since the announcement of the mandate, the spike in FASTag users is clearly something the system in place was not geared to handle, causing it to buckle.“I have been using FASTag for a year now and never faced any issues with it. However, recently after its use was made compulsory I experienced a situation wherein a toll of Rs 173 was deducted twice from my ewallet,” informed Manodnya Sapre, a resident of Nigdi.The government’s unpreparedness for its own dictum, is reflected in the fact that while it was declared that vehicles without FASTag after December 15, will have to pay toll twice as a penalty, the authorities have not been able to cope with the demand for the tags. In fact, the date for enforcing the mandate was moved again on the request of NHAI.But the woe of the commuters who did manage to secure the tag is something else. Siddhesh Dhavale, a techie, took the e-way on December 8 to go to Mumbai. “On my way back as we joined the FASTag lane at Khalapur, the toll booth operator told us the service was not yet operational so we have to pay Rs 230 in cash. I complied. But when we reached Talegaon, we had a 35-minute wait, pursuant to which the booth operator here too said that the tag was not scanned and demanded I pay the whole sum of Rs 230 again. In all I spent Rs 460 in cash for plying that road. On reaching home I realised the FASTag service had deducted Rs 173 twice from my e-wallet at the two toll plazas. In effect I’d paid Rs 806 on a one-way passage through that road,” he recounted.Minanath Sinalker, a businessman who also made a trip to Mumbai on December 10, found that the FASTag service had charged him Rs 173 twice, first at Talegaon and then at Khalapur. “This is nothing but a loot, after making the service a compulsion. I have approached my bank — HDFC — as well as the helpline. But it was of no use as my issue has not been resolved and I have little hope it will be.”The motorists complain that the manner in which the FASTag is functioning now, they end up paying unwittingly. “You don’t get a message immediately. It comes at least five-10 minutes after you’ve gone ahead from the toll plaza. I will pursue this issue and get my refund. But most people don’t put up a fight and lakhs are being robbed by this system,” Sapre argued.While admitting to some issues, Suhas Chitnis, project director (Pune division) for NHAI, is in denial of the gravity of the complaints. “We have received a few complaints about the system not working efficiently and people having to pay the toll in cash. But I have not come across any claim that the toll was deducted twice. Even if such a situation arises, we suggest people call NHAI’s helpline 1033 or write in their complaint at the grievance section of FASTag’s official website,” he defended.Only, commuters have found 1033 particularly ineffectual. The calls made to the number get directed to the highway police or to Thane police. As for the grievance cell on the website, it is flooded with refund requests. Clearly the ease of travel FASTag promised enabling smoother passage through the toll plazas is far from being delivered on.