New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has refunded toll charges in a staggering 17.7 lakh cases between January and December 2025. These refunds were issued for incorrect deductions, with a particularly concerning detail emerging: in nearly 35% of these cases, the vehicles were not even present at the toll plaza when the user fee was debited from their FASTag wallets.
Root Cause: Manual Entry Errors
This widespread issue of erroneous toll deductions is primarily attributed to the manual entry of vehicle registration numbers by toll operators. This practice is often employed as a fallback when technical issues with automatic scanners arise. However, it introduces a significant margin for human error, leading to incorrect charges being levied on commuters.
Government's Stance and Proposed Solution
In a written reply presented to the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari provided official data on the matter. He stated that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the Central Clearing House for electronic toll collection, reported these 17.6 lakh refund transactions. This figure represents a minuscule 0.03% of the total 464 crore FASTag transactions processed during the same period.
Despite the relatively low percentage, the ministry views even these errors as unacceptable. An official from the ministry emphasized, "Though the number of faulty transactions is minuscule, this shouldn't happen. A decision will likely be taken soon on stopping the practice of manually feeding vehicle registration numbers into the system to deduct toll."
The official further explained the inherent flaw in the manual process: "In such cases, there is a possibility of the toll attendants noting down wrong details. This becomes an unnecessary hassle for commuters who must then seek refunds." The ministry is actively considering a complete ban on this manual entry option to eliminate this source of error and streamline the toll collection process.
FASTag's Success and Financial Impact
The ministry also highlighted the broader success of the FASTag system. Since its implementation, the average time for a vehicle to cross a toll plaza has dramatically reduced to just 40 seconds, a stark improvement from the 12.2 minutes required under the old manual tolling system.
Substantial Toll Revenue Collection
In a separate written reply concerning toll revenue, the Road Transport Ministry disclosed significant financial figures. For the first three quarters of the financial year 2025-26, a total of Rs 50,195 crore was collected as user fees across the national highway and expressway network. This substantial collection follows the Rs 61,508 crore collected as toll during the entire previous financial year, underscoring the system's critical role in infrastructure funding.
The move to potentially eliminate manual entries represents a proactive step by the government to refine the FASTag ecosystem, ensuring it remains efficient, accurate, and hassle-free for the millions of commuters who rely on it daily.
