NHAI brings stricter IT standards for FASTag toll plazas

04 Jun 2024 CW Team

In an effort to streamline the procedure, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has significantly altered the hardware and IT setup at toll plazas for FASTag transaction processing. The authority will now only appoint experienced players, and they will only be allowed to purchase equipment from manufacturers approved by the Ministry of Electronics and IT's Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) directorate (MeitY). All equipment, including RFID (tag) readers, automated number plate readers, toll lane controllers, anteenas, and toll plaza servers, must have the STQC certification. The system integrators will need to guarantee the IHMCL, the NHAI's toll collecting agency, in accordance with the revised criteria, that if any deviations are found at toll plazas designated to them because of equipment, the agency will have the right to immediately suspend the empanelment and forfeit the bank guarantee.

The TOI reported that FASTag rendered roadways cashless. The article "Here's why they aren't jam-less" brought to light the many difficulties commuters have at toll gates, even when their FASTags have sufficient balance, because of malfunctions or inadequacies in the hardware and system installed at plazas that are unable to read the tag. In order to avoid having commuters use handheld devices to read the tag, toll collectors encouraged drivers to move their cars back and forth

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