After Modi led BJP government made fasttag mandatory and hiked the toll rates toll revenues on the platform reached Rs 4,095 crore in March 2022
This is highest since the digital toll collection system was introduced in 2016.
Also This is the first time toll collections through FASTag crossed Rs 4,000 crores.
With March numbers in, highway toll collections through FASTag for the full fiscal year stood at Rs 38,084 crore, or 68 per cent higher than the previous year.
The mop-up for March was almost 33 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year.
Almost a third of the toll revenue came in the last quarter of the financial year.
On a sequential basis, toll collections through the platform grew almost 13 per cent over February.
Over 27 crore FASTag transactions were recorded during the month with the system reaching almost 5 crore tag issuances, data by the National Payments Corporation of India reveals.
The Union government had declared all lanes of fee plazas on national highways as mandatory FASTag lanes in February last year.
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had earlier stated that FASTag adoption in passenger vehicles had reached 97 per cent and the ministry is working to identify causes for non-adoption among the remaining highway commuters.
The ministry’s secretary Giridhar Aramane has also said that the department is eyeing a toll revenue collection of over Rs 35,000 crore in 2022-23, with a medium-term aim of half a trillion rupees by the end of 2025.
Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also hiked toll rates for 2022-23.
Toll rates are linked to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which has remained at elevated levels. Wholesale inflation in February was at 13.11 per cent.
Across Indians used social media condemntation raised over Union government over toll price hike on cards
It should be noted during Transporters strike in July 2018 Rs 70 billion worth of trade in goods has been affected in Tamil Nadu alone, said All India Motor Transport Congress’ (AIMTC’s) representatives.
