Annual FASTag plan for frequent highway users being considered: Transport ministry to PAC

New Delhi: The possibility of allowing frequent highway users to pay tolls annually is being considered in a bid to ease their troubles, Transport Ministry officials told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday.

At a meeting of the PAC headed by senior Congress MP KC Venugopal, which is examining "Levy and Regulation of Fees, Tariffs, User Charges etc. on Public Infrastructure and Other Public Utilities", officials also assured to take steps to ensure that long queues are not seen at toll plazas, which are a regular scene these days.

With MPs from across party lines raising questions about FASTags not working properly, sources said the officials told the panel that they were considering the possibility of introducing annual FASTags in a bid to reduce the hassle of repeated payments.

The recent incidents of irregularities in the construction of highways in Kerala also came up in the meeting with the Ministry of Road Transport and the National Highways Authority of India, informing the panel that a preliminary report has found that faulty design has led to damage to roads. Venugopal on Wednesday had visited some of the spots.

Officials said they were aware of the situation while admitting fault in the design. NHAI officials are visiting the locations this weekend. Sources said geographical conditions were not taken into consideration while preparing the design.

The MPs were also told that the ground improvement work was not carried out while carrying out the construction of the roads. The officials said a team of experts from IIT-Palakkad, Geological Survey of India and Central Road Research Institute would be visiting the locations.

"The committee was very concerned about these issues, like complaints over FASTags, tolls and quality of roads," Venugopal said.