Unidentified vehicles raise illegal activity risks at barrier-less plazas

Why in the News

Barrier-less tolling has moved toll collection from a working FASTag read at a boom barrier to an automatic match of the FASTag with the vehicle’s number plate, and vehicles that fail the match cross without paying. At least one in 10 vehicles at the Shahjahanpur plaza on NH-48 in Rajasthan is “unidentified“, so the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is holding talks with investigating agencies and Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities.

What is Multi-Lane Free Flow tolling, and how does it work?

1. What it is: Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling, a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) initiative, deducts toll without stopping vehicles. It works like a metro card read as a commuter walks past, with no turnstile.
2. Why it was introduced: To end congestion and stops at toll plazas.
3. How toll is charged: Toll is deducted only when the FASTag and its linked number plate match. A FASTag with insufficient balance triggers an e-notice, giving 72 hours to pay.
4. Rollout: NHAI launched MLFF in May at Choryasi in Surat, Gujarat, and it now runs at seven fee plazas. India joins the United States, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia in using it.
5. The takeaway: Removing the barrier removed the physical check, so any vehicle the system cannot match passes free.

How do vehicles go unidentified, and how large is the problem?

1. Hidden or fake plates: A vehicle is unidentified when its number plate or FASTag is covered or not visible, or its plate is fake or impersonated.
2. Rising numbers: The count is rising every month. About 3% of vehicles at Manoharpura and about 2% at Delhi’s Mundka-Bakkarwala plaza went unidentified.
3. Shahjahanpur: Since MLFF went live there, 2.60 lakh of about 24 lakh vehicles crossing the plaza went unidentified.
4. Paranur: Tamil Nadu’s Paranur plaza recorded over 500 unidentified vehicles in its first 20 days of operation.
5. Fully barrier-less corridor: All three plazas on the Gurgaon-Jaipur section of NH-48, Daulatpura, Manoharpura and Shahjahanpur, run MLFF, so an unidentified vehicle can travel it toll-free.

Why does this worry the government?

1. Illegal activities: Untraceable vehicles could be used for smuggling, illegal sand mining and other crimes.
2. GST evasion: The e-way bill (an electronic permit for moving goods) is linked to FASTag, so unidentified vehicles can help evade GST.
3. Revenue loss: NHAI and banks lose toll revenue, since no mechanism exists to recover toll from vehicles that cannot be identified.
4. Newly visible problem: Boom-barrier plazas needed only a working FASTag, so plate mismatches went unseen. Impersonating a number plate is a serious crime, not a routine toll violation.

What measures are being considered?

1. Penalties and FIRs: A penalty of more than twice the toll and registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) are under consideration.
2. Dedicated portal: An internal portal is being built to identify such vehicles and share the data with relevant departments. The matter is reviewed every 15 days.
3. Data matching with AI: MLFF is awarded in stages, so vehicles stay traceable at boom-barrier plazas. There, artificial intelligence (AI) will match VAHAN registration data on model and colour with FASTag transactions within 10 minutes.

Challenges

1. Camera dependence: Barrier-less tolling relies on reading plates, which fails when plates are dirty, damaged or non-standard.
2. Recovery after the fact: Without a barrier, toll is recovered only by tracing owners later, which is slow and costly.
3. Data sharing: Sharing vehicle movement data across agencies needs clear limits on use.

Way Forward

1. Tamper-proof plates: States should enforce High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) to make plates harder to fake.
2. Dues linked to registration: Bar transfer or renewal of a vehicle’s registration until unpaid e-notices are cleared.
3. Purpose-limited data use: Share toll data with agencies only for stated purposes, under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Conclusion

Barrier-less tolling has made toll evasion visible but not yet recoverable. MoRTH’s decision on penalties, FIRs and data matching, expected within a month, is the next milestone to watch.

Back2Basics: FASTag

1. What it is: A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag fixed on a vehicle’s windscreen and linked to a bank account or wallet, from which toll is deducted electronically.
2. System: It runs under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
3. Mandate: FASTag has been mandatory for four-wheelers at national highway fee plazas since 15 February 2021; vehicles without one pay double the fee.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2024, GS3, 10 marks] What is the technology being employed for electronic toll collection on highways? What are its advantages and limitations? What are the proposed changes that will make this process seamless? Would this transition carry any potential hazards?”