Develop Transparent, Tech-Driven Toll Refund System: Parliament Panel To MoRTH, NHAI
The Public Accounts Committee said it is 'unacceptable' for highway tolls to continue to be collected when safe, uninterrupted, and timely travel is not available
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have been advised to establish a clear, technology-driven, and transparent mechanism for automatic toll refunds or waivers in cases where the highway is incomplete, unfit, or unavailable for full use or under maintenance.
The 33rd Report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the levy and regulation of fees, tolls, and infrastructure governance on national highways, released on Tuesday, stated that it is 'unacceptable" for tolls to continue to be collected when safe, uninterrupted, and timely travel is not available.
The report highlighted the committee's concern over the 'absence of any institutional mechanism" for refunding or waiving tolls in such scenarios, despite the service not being provided.
'This includes highway stretches that are incomplete, under prolonged construction, or marked by serious deficiencies in safety and traffic flow. Continuing to levy toll without delivering the promised level of service violates both the user-pay principle embedded in Section 7 of the National Highways Act and the norms of fair commercial conduct envisaged under Section 10 of the NHAI Act," stated the committee headed by Congress lawmaker KC Venugopal.
'In this context, the Committee wishes to draw a parallel with the income tax framework, where the Government has institutionalised a transparent and automated mechanism to process refunds to taxpayers in cases of excess deduction or payment," it added.
MoRTH and NHAI were urged by the committee to establish a mechanism for automatic toll refunds or waivers in cases where the highway is incomplete, unfit, or unavailable for full use or under maintenance.
'This system should be fully integrated with the electronic toll collection framework (e.g., FASTag) and designed to function without the need for user intervention, similar to how income tax refunds are processed and paid directly to taxpayers," it added.
Regarding another issue of excess toll collection, the Ministry stated that for Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) projects and Public Funded (EPC) projects, toll or user fees are collected by NHAI and the revenue is remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) daily as Non-Tax Revenue Receipts of the Government of India.
'Thus, excess toll collection, if any, is also remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India. There is no mechanism prescribed for refunding such excess toll collection to the payee (road user). However, in BOT(Toll) projects where the toll is collected by the concessionaire, if excess toll collection is found and established, it is recovered from the concessionaire as per concession agreement provisions and remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India," the ministry added.
In case of any wrongful transactions through FASTag, the amount is remitted back to the user's account upon verification of the grievance or complaint raised by the user.
The total chargebacks due to incorrect toll deductions under the National Electronic Toll Collection programme for 2022 (Rs 47.23 crore), 2023 (Rs 58.61 crore), and 2024 (Rs 40.69 crore) stood at nearly Rs 147 crore.
The ministry has faced similar questions on social media posts showing national highway sections in poor condition. The automated refund system will ensure users pay only for the service that is actually delivered.
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August 13, 2025, 06:30 IST
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