The increasing penetration of FASTag on national highways (NHs) in the country has resulted in more transparency in collecting user fee, with collection through FASTag on fee plazas of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hitting ₹33,274 crore in FY22, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

“Post declaration of all lanes of fee plazas on NHs as FASTag Lane with effect from the midnight of February 15-16, 2021, transparency in user fee collection has improved,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha.

According to the data provided by the Minister, the toll collection through FASTag hit ₹33,274 crore at a penetration level of 96.34 per cent in FY22, in comparison with ₹25,291 crore collected at a penetration of 91.15 per cent in FY21. The total toll collection at NHs stood at ₹34,535 crore in FY22, against ₹27,744 crore in FY21 and ₹26,851 crore in FY20.

Huge fuel savings

Gadkari noted that as per an impact assessment study in 2021, the use of FASTag resulted in an estimated fuel savings of around 35 crore litres per year equivalent to more than ₹2,800 crore annually in fuel savings due to reduced idling of vehicles at fee plazas.

The study also estimated that more than 9,78,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been reduced through adoption of FASTag at fee plazas along national highways and selected State highways, he added.

Post the declaration of all lanes of NH toll plazas as “FASTag Lane of fee plaza”, any vehicle not fitted with functional FASTag shall be charged twice the applicable user fee at NH toll plazas. As per reports available from various NH user fee plazas, around 97 per cent of user fee is being paid through FASTag only.