NHAI directed to pay compensation of INR25,000/- and INR10,000/-

 

 Kappalur is a public funded national highway strech on Madurai - Tirunelveli - Panagudi - kanayakumari motorway

It is at Km 18.652 - NH-7 in Tamil Nadu and the Tollable Length : 50.857 Km(s)

 

The Madurai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to pay compensation of ₹ 25,000 to a man after employees at the Kappalur toll plaza had insisted on cash payment stating that the scanner was not reading, though there was sufficient balance in the FASTag.

 

The complainant A. Martin David of Madurai said that in September 2020 he was travelling from Madurai to Sivakasi in his car. An employee at the Kappalur toll plaza told him the scanner was not reading and insisted on the cash payment. Though there was sufficient balance in the FASTag, he was asked to wait for a long time and pay the toll fee.

 

On the return journey from Sivakasi to Madurai, he was again told that the scanner did not read the FASTag and he was again forced to pay the toll fee.

 

The commission, comprising the president M. Piravi Perumal and the member-I P. Shanmugapriya, observed that on perusal of the records, the complainant’s car was holding a valid FASTag with sufficient balance in the FASTag account.

 

Referring to the notification issued in 2018 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Commission observed that if the FASTag of a car was valid and functional and is still not read by the scanner at toll plazas, the vehicle owner need not pay any toll fee. The toll fee is exempted in such cases and the vehicle is allowed to drive through the toll plaza free of cost.

 

The complainant had a valid FASTag and sufficient balance.

 

However, the notification was not followed and the toll fee was collected from him. He was also ill-treated for raising a genuine and legitimate grievance, the commission said and directed NHAI to pay compensation of ₹ 25,000. The commission also directed NHAI to pay ₹10,000 as cost.

 

 

NHAI submitted that the tollgate was maintained by a private entity to collect toll, and faulted SBI for deficiency in service.

 

The petitioner Martin David, vice-principal of American College was travelling to Sivakasi on official duty and passed through the Kappalur tollgate in September 2020 where the system failed to detect his FASTag.

 

Even though his FASTag account had sufficient funds, the toll plaza employees forced him to pay cash, ill-treated him and made him wait, David’s petitioner Dinesh Kumar said.

 

While returning to Madurai from Sivakasi through the same tollgate, the petitioner was subject to the same ordeal again, despite alerting the FASTag issuer bank SBI’s helpline about the issue.

NHAI submitted that the tollgate was maintained by a private entity to collect toll, and faulted SBI for deficiency in service. It also refused the claim that the toll plaza employees quarrelled with the petitioner. SBI submitted that the fault was due to NHAI’s scanner issues and not their issue.

After considering the contentions of the parties, the commission’s president M Piravi Perumal stated that the petitioner had a valid and efficient FASTag with sufficient balance.

It highlighted the road transport and highways ministry’s notification that if a car’s FASTag is valid and functional, but is not detected by the scanners at a toll plaza, then the vehicle owner need not pay any fee. In such cases, the vehicle owner is exempted from paying the toll and the vehicles can exit the plaza free of cost.

 

“In this case, the petitioner should have been allowed to leave without paying, but NHAI employees violated the notification and collected the charge, and also ill-treated the petitioner for raising a grievance. The employees caused mental distress and indignation to the complainant. Moreover, NHAI is liable as the employees and/or the contractor was appointed by them,” the commission stated.

The nearest hospitals to Kappalur toll plaza(s) are:         1)SKG Hospital 19/1, Chinnamani Street Pudhu Nagar Tirumangalam, Tamil Nadu ,2)Kasturibai Mohandas Hospital Tirumangalam, Tamil Nadu Ph.:04549 280 444 ,3)Government Hospital, Tirumangalam, Madurai District Munchief Court Raod Tirumangalam, Tamil Nadu

 

Extract of 2018 notification:

“Provided also that if a vehicle user with a valid, functional FASTag or any such device with sufficient balance in the linked account crossing a fee plaza installed with Electronic Toll Collection infrastructure, is not able to pay user fee through FASTag or any such device owing to malfunctioning of Electronic Toll Collection infrastructure, the vehicle user shall be permitted to pass the fee plaza without payment of any user fee. An appropriate zero transaction receipt shall be issued mandatorily for all such transactions”.

 

For more  information on this subject just key in Google, the worlds ‘FASTag Madurai compensation,’ and you will be able to view the latest news on this subject. 

Disclaimer: These are my personal thoughts only. I am solely responsible for any errors or omissions.

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