What Government Said About Toll Plaza Scams
The Indian government has acknowledged incidents of fraudulent cash collection at toll plazas on National Highways and has initiated corrective measures, including terminating contracts and implementing technological upgrades to curb such malpractices.
Responding to a query in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, stated that a scam was detected at the Atraila Shiv Gulam toll plaza in Uttar Pradesh. The fraudulent activity involved the use of separate handheld machines to collect cash payments from non-FASTag or blacklisted FASTag vehicles instead of routing the transactions through the Toll Management System (TMS). The scam was exposed following an FIR filed in Mirzapur by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).
While the government assured that the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, which accounts for 98% of toll revenue, remains unaffected, the inquiry committee found instances of cash transactions being manipulated. Toll operators reportedly used two key methods to divert funds. Firstly, they exploited the system when vehicles with invalid FASTags were required to pay double the standard fee. Instead of processing the payment officially, operators falsely marked these transactions as exempted or violations and issued receipts using unauthorised Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines, thus bypassing the official record-keeping system. Secondly, additional unaccounted charges were reportedly levied on overloaded vehicles without being reflected in the TMS.
The government has taken stringent action against the entities involved. The contract of the user fee agency responsible for the scam was immediately terminated, its performance bank guarantee was encashed, and the agency was barred from operating for a year. Furthermore, 13 other toll collection agencies have been debarred for two years based on the FIR findings. In addition to these punitive measures, criminal action is also being pursued by the UP STF.
To prevent such fraudulent practices in the future, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering the installation of audit cameras at high-revenue toll plazas. These cameras, equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI), will independently track and classify vehicles to ensure accurate toll collection. The NHAI is also advancing efforts to introduce a barrier-free tolling system based on FASTag and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). This initiative, being piloted at select locations such as Gharaunda, Choryasi, Nemili, Urban Extension Road-II, and Dwarka Expressway, aims to eliminate cash transactions entirely, thereby reducing opportunities for financial misconduct.
