Parliament Question: FASTag Transactions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1943 ANSWERED ON 31ST JULY, 2025 FASTAG TRANSACTIONS

1943. SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO:

SHRI MANISH JAISWAL:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

(a) the number of FASTag transactions taken place during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise, year-wise;

(b) whether „loose FASTag‟ or „tag-in-hand‟ poses a challenge to the efficiency of electronic toll collection operations and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has strengthened the process for reporting loose FASTag and blacklisting such users to ensure smooth tolling operations, and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether NHAI has issued any directives to toll collecting agencies and concessionaries in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the other steps taken or being taken by the NHAI to make toll operations more efficient, ensuring a seamless and comfortable journey for National Highway users? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) 1(a) The details of State/UT-wise FASTag transactions during the last three years and current year at fee plazas on National Highways are at Annexure.

(b) Yes Sir. As per the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, “FASTag” means an onboard unit or any such device fitted on the front windscreen of the vehicle.

The practice of using „loose FASTags‟ or „tag-in-hand‟, where the FASTag is not properly affixed to the front windshield of the vehicle, poses a significant challenge to the efficiency and integrity of the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system. Such practices lead to manual lane operations, congestion at fee plazas, misuse in closed-loop tolling systems, generation of false chargebacks, and disruption of automated toll processing.

(c) to (d) Yes Sir. The Government through Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has progressively strengthened the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for detecting and blacklisting „loose FASTags‟ or „tag-in-hand‟. As per the IHMCL‟s Policy Circular dated 19th August, 2019, fee plaza operators are required to report such violations to the concerned Acquirer Bank and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The Issuer Bank must verify the case and blacklist the non-compliant FASTag, while IHMCL monitors adherence.

Subsequently, the Circular dated 16th July, 2024, reiterated the provisions of the National Highways Fee Rules, 2008, which mandate that vehicles not fitted with a valid and functional FASTag are to be charged double the applicable fee. The circular draws from the same and specifies that vehicles with non-affixed FASTags would also fall under this category and must pay the fee in cash at double the applicable rate, thereby enforcing deterrence.

To streamline enforcement, the Circular dated 26th June, 2025 introduced a structured reporting format requiring fee collecting agencies to submit weekly data to etc.operations@ihmcl.com. Based on these reports, IHMCL directs NPCI to initiate blacklisting.

Directives have been issued to all fee collecting agencies and concessionaires from time-to-time regarding „loose FASTag‟ or „Tag-in- hand‟.

2(e) To increase the efficiency of the Tolling operation and in order to ensure seamless and free-flow movement of vehicles along national highways, the Government has decided to implement Automatic Number Plate Registration (ANPR) based barrier-free Electronic Toll Collection

(ETC) System with available technology at selected sections of National Highways as an added facility along with FASTag where the user fee shall be charged from the vehicle users without having to stop, slow down or stay in a given fee plaza lane.

In addition, the Annual Pass scheme for non-commercial vehicles has been introduced to offer affordability for road users.

3ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1943 FOR ANSWER ON 31.07.2025 ASKED BY SHRI SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO, SHRI MANISH JAISWAL, SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA & SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE REGARDING FASTAG TRANSACTIONS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The details of State/UT-wise FASTag transactions during the last three

years and current year at fee plazas on National Highways:

Name of the Total FASTag transactions.

State/UT 2022 2023 2024 2025 (Till Jun) Andhra 19,21,31,757 20,04,65,753 21,16,79,360 11,29,46,170 Pradesh Assam 1,87,23,623 1,95,85,091 2,12,22,039 1,26,94,926 Bihar 6,03,50,085 7,02,17,036 7,76,04,068 5,01,95,782 Chhattisgarh 3,88,37,654 4,80,03,780 5,43,88,371 3,05,74,657 Delhi 18,16,570 31,24,194 37,17,145 19,03,088 Gujarat 21,97,18,137 24,03,64,837 24,85,92,949 13,59,79,345 Haryana 20,64,58,046 24,23,28,717 23,75,28,453 12,76,70,909 Himachal 75,83,044 71,49,493 78,83,008 60,63,011 Pradesh Jammu 2,08,57,670 2,16,02,139 1,98,53,127 1,00,98,680 &Kashmir Jharkhand 3,16,32,687 3,75,52,179 4,18,94,268 2,62,26,853 Karnataka 27,18,19,576 31,66,45,234 34,97,53,465 18,92,94,575 Kerala 4,14,75,799 4,67,39,799 4,72,40,325 2,41,31,801 Madhya 13,84,83,770 15,12,81,076 16,68,03,514 9,90,50,542 Pradesh Maharashtra 22,14,55,356 25,11,35,711 27,68,04,418 16,03,84,290 Meghalaya 78,69,470 83,96,227 78,48,892 39,46,898 Odisha 4,60,46,513 6,15,59,801 6,61,07,158 3,64,45,781 Punjab 12,67,81,806 14,45,45,455 14,76,66,622 7,95,65,813 Rajasthan 26,07,42,419 28,43,50,099 30,31,90,205 16,70,66,184 Tamil Nadu 32,24,13,100 35,80,79,672 37,65,49,913 20,64,63,426 4Telangana 10,05,51,620 11,15,65,059 12,05,02,516 6,69,87,786 Uttar 28,31,02,705 33,06,78,419 37,05,07,816 21,60,14,417 Pradesh Uttarakhand 3,18,38,135 3,54,72,086 3,76,54,287 2,15,44,224 West Bengal 10,91,81,023 11,26,77,349 11,66,90,548 6,54,04,288 ***** 5