Fast Tag Latest News: The decision to make Fastag mandatory was challenged in the Bombay High Court. NHAI charges double the toll from vehicles without Fastag. In this case, the Chief Justice’s bench gave an important verdict and declared the government’s decision correct.
Mumbai. If you travel on the highway, then this news is important for you. The central government has been promoting the use of prepaid FASTag on the highway for a long time. If there is no FASTag on the vehicle, double the amount is charged. A PIL regarding this also came in the Bombay High Court. In this petition, it was said that how will people who are not very educated use FASTag. In such a situation, there should be at least one booth without FASTag at the toll. A petition was filed calling it a violation of the fundamental rights of the people. Giving an important decision on this, the Chief Justice of the High Court made it clear that people will have to get FASTag installed on their vehicles in any case. The government’s policy of charging double the amount if it is not installed is correct. There is no question of violation of fundamental rights in this.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhya and Justice Bharti Dangre said on Thursday that the introduction of FASTag is a policy decision aimed at providing efficient and smooth road travel. The FASTag system started in 2014 will remain. The court held that there is no judicial justification to interfere in the policy decision of the Center being implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The PIL of Arjun Khanpure of Pune was dismissed. In this petition, the NHAI circular of February 2021 was challenged, which said that vehicles without Fastag would have to pay double toll fee.
What was the demand?
It was urged to keep at least one lane hybrid to allow cash payment. Argued that the implementation of Fastag has failed due to lack of proper infrastructure, causing difficulty to the passengers. He said that there may be people who are not yet used to the technology, and charging double toll from them is arbitrary, illegal and will adversely affect their fundamental right to move freely.
No double penalty
The High Court said that FASTag has been made mandatory only after giving sufficient time to the public to adopt the change. Also, it is a “misconception” that the amount collected from the vehicle for not being equipped with FASTag is a penalty. The National Highway Fee Rules provide that such vehicles entering the FASTag lane will have to pay double the fee. Rejecting the argument that the mandatory use of FASTag violates the fundamental rights of citizens, the judges said that it is a “misconception” that the vehicle will not be allowed to cross the toll plaza if not equipped with FASTag.
Fast Tag is recharged instantly
The High Court said that Fastag has been made user-friendly with multiple options for instant recharge. It is difficult to understand that the public in India is not well equipped to handle Fastag. Currently, there is hardly a person in this country, especially in cities like Mumbai and Pune, who does not use a mobile phone. It is not expected that a person should be completely tech-savvy to use Fastag as it is a simple process, which can be done even offline.
