Using AI to verify toll collections on NH: Nitin Gadkari

The National Highways Authority of India is considering the installation of audit cameras at high-value toll plazas to independently monitor the number and classification of passing vehicles using artificial intelligence, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha on Thursday. “Learning from this incident, NHAI aims to strengthen the cash collection process from invalid/non FASTag vehicles and additional surveillance is being contemplated to strictly monitor the count of vehicle passing through the fee plaza to tally it with the receipts at the toll plaza,” he said. E-notices are proposed for Invalid/NonFASTag vehicles, thus eliminating the cash collection from the toll collection process.” In his reply, Gadkari also said that more than 98% of user fee collection occurs through FASTag under National Electronic Toll Collection programme with National Payment Corporation of India as central clearing house. The Electronic Toll Collection system is designed such that no FASTag transaction can take place without the participation of all three stakeholders– acquirer bank at user fee plaza, NPCI and issuer Bank.” Gadkari said for cash transactions too, the user fee collecting agencies are obligated to process collections through the toll management system, so that a centralised record is maintained. “In addition to above, the Government has appointed System Integrators to monitor the user fee plaza operations 24X7 and to report to the Central Control Room of any suspicious activity occurring at the user fee plaza.” However, he added that the government is investigating some potentially fraudulent operations at user fee plazas based on complaints and so far, seven agencies have been debarred or monetarily penalised for a breach of contractual obligations including breach of operational transparency.