Bengaluru: Motorists using the Bengaluru-Mysuru access-controlled national highway have been complaining of long waits at the toll plazas over the last few weeks, saying FASTags, instead of restricting their wait time to 10 seconds, are only contributing to delays.
The motorists say the problem has been acute during holidays and peak hours.
The root cause, according to toll booth staff and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials, lies in the erratic functioning of FASTag scanners, insufficient funds in wallets, and a range of user-end and backend issues.
“I was stuck for almost seven minutes at the Sheshagirihalli plaza,” said Ramesh Hegde, a daily commuter between Ramanagara and Bengaluru. “What’s the point of having FASTag if I still have to wait in line and the staff have to check each tag manually?”
Sunitha R, a software professional who travels from Mysuru to Bengaluru every Wednesday, said, “This is a technology meant to reduce jams, but ironically, it’s now one of the reasons for the bottlenecks.” She added, “We are told to switch to digital, but the system isn’t ready for the volume.”
According to toll plaza staffers, the recurring issues can be attributed to three main factors: insufficient balance in FASTag-linked wallets, improper placement of FASTags—often stuck on dashboards instead of the windshield, dust-covered FASTags and malfunctioning or dust-covered RFID scanners that struggle to detect the tag.
“Most people don’t place the FASTag correctly. Many just keep it on the dashboard and expect it to work. That delays the scan, and then we have to manually verify the details,” explained a toll booth staffer at Kaniminike plaza, requesting anonymity. In some cases, even when the FASTag is placed properly and the account is active, system glitches cause breakdowns. “The backend and the FASTag reader might be working, but if the link is down or if there’s dust on the windshield or the scanner, it won’t read,” another employee added.
Compounding the problem is the use of multiple FASTags on a single vehicle. Some motorists stick more than one tag to the windshield, slowing down the verification process, the toll staffers said.
Admitting that dust on scanners confirms maintenance issues at toll plazas, an NHAI official said, “There are multiple agencies involved and hardware inconsistencies across booths. System integration is a big task for us. Banks and NPCI are reportedly working in coordination to streamline operations.”