FASTag rule: High Court tells Centre to respond to PIL

This picture has been used for representational purpose

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Union government to file an affidavit in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the decision to make FASTag, the electronic toll collection chip, mandatory for all vehicles at toll plazas on national highways.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni asked the government if there was any law that said all toll plazas at national highways across the country will only have FASTag lanes. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by one Arjun Khanapure, challenging the decision of making FASTag compulsory. The plea also challenged the government's rule of imposing fines on vehicles flouting the FASTag rules.

The petitioner's counsel Uday Warunjikar told the High Court that not all citizens were comfortable with technology. The Union government had given a short notice for
vehicles to get FASTag chips fitted, he said, adding that vehicles that did not have FASTag, but entered the designated lane, were required to pay double the toll amount on national highways. However, the Union government did not have any valid power to impose such a fine, Warunjikar said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever