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Parliament panel flags concern over FASTags and highway tolls, seeks rationalisation
Public Lokpal
May 29, 2025
Parliament panel flags concern over FASTags and highway tolls, seeks rationalisation
NEW DELHI: FASTags not properly working, extra money charged by toll plazas and the quality of roads being constructed were some of the issues that drew concern from the members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, its chairperson and Congress MP KC Venugopal said Thursday.
The recent collapse of a part of a national highway in Kerala was also flagged at the meeting, and a high-level committee will be travelling to the southern state to look into the matter, he added.
The National Highways Authority of India chairperson and the Transport secretary appeared before the committee, which discussed "levy and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities."
"The committee was very concerned about these issues," he said, referring to the complaints over FASTags, tolls and quality of roads.
The committee, sources said, suggested rationalisation of money being charged to commuters and also proper auditing.
Transport ministry officials said they are devising a programme that will allow frequent highway users to pay tolls once a year to reduce the hassle of repeated payments every time they travel, sources added.
Concerns over traffic at toll plazas with commuters forced to spend a long time despite having FASTags have often been raised in the past.
PTI
