NHAI Mulls AI-Powered Audit Cameras At High-Value Toll Plazas For Accurate Vehicle Counting And Classification

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering the installation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered audit cameras at high-value toll plazas to ensure accurate vehicle counting and classification.

This move comes in response to recent concerns over toll collection malpractices involving unauthorised cash transactions at certain toll booths.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (20 March), Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "An incident has come to the notice of the Government through an FIR registered at District Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh by UP Special Task Force (STF) citing the partial cash collection from non-FASTag/black listed FAStag vehicles through separate handheld machines instead of routing the cash collected through the Toll Management System (TMS) software installed at Atraila Shiv Gulam user fee Plaza".

The minister said that the government had constituted a three-member enquiry committee to look into the matter.

The committee has submitted its report, which found that while the FASTag-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system remains largely secure—handling 98 per cent of all toll transactions—certain loopholes have been exploited for diverting this setup.

The report highlighted two key methods used for bypassing the system.

(i) When the vehicles with non-valid FASTags enters the fee plaza, the boom barrier doesn’t open which switches the transaction to cash. The user is expected to pay twice the fee applicable for that category of vehicles. The Toll operator may declare this transaction as exempted or violation category and generating a payment receipt using illegitimate Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines, thereby, not reflecting the said collection in the ETC and TMS framework.

(ii) There may also be possibility of charging cash payment from the overloaded vehicles over and above the admissible fee which might not be accounted in the ETC/TMS system.

As part of efforts to enhance oversight, NHAI is now evaluating the deployment of AI-driven audit cameras at high-value toll plazas.

These cameras will function as an independent monitoring system to ensure transparency in vehicle classification and toll collection.

NHAI took strict action against the involved user fee collecting agency, terminating its contract, encashing its performance bank guarantee, and barring it from operations for one year.

Additionally, 13 other user fee collecting agencies were debarred for two years in response to related violations.

"NHAI is also considering the installation of audit cameras at high-value toll plazas to independently monitor the accurate count and classify vehicles using Artificial Intelligence (AI)," Gadkari said.

Additionally, NHAI has invited bids for the implementation of a FASTag and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)-based barrier-free tolling system on a pilot basis at Gharaunda, Choryasi, Nemili, Urban Extension Road-II and Dwarka Expressway.

This system enables user fee collection exclusively through FASTag, eliminating the need for cash collection from the toll collection process.

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