Highway Authority Interrogated Regarding “Double Toll Tax” For Vehicles Without FASTag
For making toll payments directly while the car is moving, a device called FASTag uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Centre were asked to respond on Friday to a petition challenging the rule requiring vehicles without FASTag to pay double the toll tax.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad sent notices to the National Highway Administration (NHAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) in response to a petition that argued the rule was unfair because it allows the NHAI to charge tolls that are paid in cash at twice the rate.
The high court set a new hearing date of April 18 and gave the government four weeks to submit their responses.
Commuters without a FASTag on their vehicles are required to pay double the toll tax under a provision of the National Highway Fees (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2020, as well as letters from MoRT&H and an NHAI circular, according to petitioner Ravinder Tyagi, who is represented by attorney Praveen Agrawal.
The high court set a new hearing date of April 18 and gave the government four weeks to submit their responses.
Commuters without a FASTag on their vehicles are required to pay double the toll tax under a provision of the National Highway Fees (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2020, as well as letters from MoRT&H and an NHAI circular, according to petitioner Ravinder Tyagi, who is represented by attorney Praveen Agrawal.
The petitioner, a lawyer, alleged that having to pay the double the toll in cash forced him to instal a FASTag device in his car.
He claimed that he had paid toll taxes at a doubled rate prior to installing the FASTag. He made mention of the suffering of the commuters he witnessed on his trips from Delhi to Faridabad in Haryana.
According to the argument, the petitioner had lodged a complaint to the NHAI and the government but was unsatisfied with their answer, so he went to the high court.
He requested a directive to the relevant authorities to prohibit the practise of collecting double toll tax, claiming it violated Articles 14 of the Constitution (equality before the law) and 19 of the Constitution (freedom of speech and expression).