Parliament Question: Toll Plazas in Sasaram

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1926 ANSWERED ON 30th JULY, 2026 TOLL PLAZAS IN SASARAM 1926. SHRI MANOJ KUMAR: Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) the details of all toll plazas located in or serving the Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency along with the annual toll revenue collected from each toll plaza during the last five years; (b) whether the Government has received any complaints regarding irregularities, overcharging, malfunctioning of FASTag systems or lack of transparency in toll collection at these toll plazas during the said period; (c) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government including inspections, audits and other corrective measures; (d) whether the Government has conducted any financial or technical audit of these toll plazas during the last five years and if so, the findings thereof; and (e) whether the Government proposes to strengthen transparency and accountability in toll collection through digital monitoring, third-party audits and other oversight mechanisms, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) 1(a) The user fee collection at fee plazas on National Highways located in Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency during the last five years is tabulated below: User fee Collection (In Crore rupees) Name of the Fee Plaza 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Mohania 92.16 124.27 122.92 118.89 136.48 Sasaram 182.98 237.95 237.62 248.20 251.41 Katiyara - - - - 12.45 (b) to (c) Complaints regarding staff misbehaviour, physical assault, and long waiting times at fee plazas are received and addressed in a timely manner. Appropriate action is taken to resolve the issues and ensure effective redressal of the complaints. A 24x7 grievance redressal mechanism is available through the toll-free helpline number 1033, which is integrated with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)’s centralized call centre and FASTag system to enable real-time monitoring and redressal of complaints relating to overcharging, misbehavior, or other issues at Fee Plazas. Total number of complaints related to Staff behavior / long waiting time / FASTag facility and Plaza operation received for the Mohania, Sasaram and Katiyara fee plazas during July 2023 to June 2026 is as below: (i) Through 1033 Helpline-215 (ii) Through Rajmarg Yatra App - 84 All the complaints received have been examined thoroughly and disposed/resolved accordingly. (d) The extant National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 was formulated to ensure transparency, with a uniform methodology for calculating user fees across the country. 2Regular audit of user fee plazas are conducted by the Comptroller & Auditor General including user fee plazas operated by concessionaire. (e) To ensure operational integrity and transparency in user fee collection on National Highways, the Government has implemented FASTag-based Electronic Toll Collection system. Presently, approximately more than 98% of user fee collection takes place through FASTag under National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program. All the FASTag transactions are processed in a secured ecosystem involving Toll Management System Software, Acquirer Bank at fee plaza, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) as Central Clearing House (CCH) and FASTag Issuer Bank. The transaction involves a transparent process wherein the deducted user fee (Toll) is informed to the highway users and recorded in a central repository. The Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system is designed in such a way that no FASTag transaction can take place without the participation of all three stakeholders i.e., Acquirer Bank at user fee plaza, NPCI and Issuer Bank. In order to ensure the smooth functioning of fee plazas and enhance transparency, the Government has discontinued cash collection at all NH fee plazas with effect from April 2026. Accordingly, User Fee is being collected through FASTag/UPI only. Further, In order to enhance toll operations and enable seamless movement of vehicles, the Government has adopted a phased rollout of Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) user fee collection on 4-lane and above National Highways, based on the outcomes and efficacy of the awarded projects. Under the MLFF tolling system, gantry-mounted high- performance Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are used for the deduction of user fees through the existing FASTag system, thereby eliminating manual intervention or cash handling at fee collection points. This facilitates barrier-less tolling, wherein user fees are collected from vehicle users without requiring them to stop, slow down, or remain in a designated lane. ***** 3