New Delhi: More than 77 lakh annual FASTag passes have been issued till June, registering 63 crore transactions on National Highway Fee Plazas, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
Presently, around 33 per cent of total Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) transactions done by car, jeep and van are annual pass transactions. The scheme has improved operational efficiency and enhanced the convenience of road users, said Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has established multiple grievance redressal mechanisms for addressing user fee-related issues on National Highways.
Further, 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 per cent of user fee collection takes place through FASTag under National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme.
All the FASTag transactions are processed in a secure 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 as such 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, said the government.
In an effort to enhance toll operations and enable seamless movement of vehicles, the Government has decided to implement MLFF through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) with AI analytics and RFID-based Electronic Toll Collection (FASTag) which facilitates barrier-less tolling, where the user fee will be charged from the vehicle users without having to stop, slow down or stay in a given lane.
(IANS)
