As many as 14 toll-contracted agencies in Uttar Pradesh faced action over illegal toll collection. Based on the report of an inquiry committee set up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has banned the responsible agencies for two years and confiscated their nearly Rs 100 crore security deposit due to violation of contract terms.

The UP STF raided the Atraila Shiv Gulam Toll Plaza in Mirzapur and discovered that illegal toll collection was happening at approximately 42 toll plazas across the country, causing the government a loss of more than Rs 120 crore. **ALSO READ: Pune Minibus Deaths: Driver Confesses To Plotting Murder Of Firm Employees Over ‘Mistreatment’, Staged Incident as Fire ** **Fake Software Used For Collection** Employees of contracted agencies were found using fake software to collect tolls from vehicles without FASTags or with restricted FASTags. A case was registered and show-cause notices were issued to the agencies. Along with the legal action, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways set up a three-member inquiry committee.

**Two-Year Ban Imposed** The government claims that the report revealed no flaws in the electronic toll collection (ETC) system, with 98 per cent of toll collections happening through the ETC system. However, since the aforementioned toll collection agencies were unable to provide a satisfactory reply to the show-cause notices, the NHAI took action by banning them for two years and confiscating their security deposit. The toll collection work at these plazas will now be handed over to new agencies. Additionally, the ministry informed Parliament that they are considering the installation of AI-based audit cameras at major (high-value) toll plazas to collect accurate data.

The government also informed Parliament that Rs 12.55 lakh was refunded in 2024 for incorrect toll collection on national highways. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that fines of over Rs 2 crore have been imposed on the concerned agencies for illegal toll collections. The National Payments Corporation of India reported that there were incorrect toll collections in 410 crore FASTag transactions, which accounts for 0.03 per cent of all FASTag transactions.

**ALSO READ: Nagpur Violence: Prime Accused Fahim Khan, Five Others Booked For Sedition; Bangladesh Link Under Probe ** The minister further explained that if toll agencies are found collecting incorrect user charges, penalties 30 to 50 times the additional charge are imposed as per the contract. In some cases, toll fees were collected even without vehicles travelling on national highways or expressways. This happens because agencies sometimes manually create VRN-based transactions and incorrectly enter vehicle registration numbers (VRN) in the system. Occasionally, multiple readings by FASTag readers lead to double charges.