THE Bombay High Court recently dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition challenging the mandatory use of FASTag for all vehicles crossing National Highway toll plazas, according to Bar and Bench.
The PIL filed by one Arjun Raju Khanapure sought quashing of the circulars issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that imposed double toll fees on vehicles without FASTags, effective from February 15, 2021. A Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharati Dangre said that it is a policy decision which cannot be interfered with by courts.
“The introduction of a FASTag is a policy decision aimed for providing efficient and seamless road travel…….It is a trite position of law that a policy decision can be subjected to judicial review only if they are arbitrary or violate the fundamental rights,” the Court said.
It further opined that it cannot accept the petitioner’s argument that the public in India is not capable of handling FASTag since a lot of them are illiterate and may not have a bank account required for the system.
FASTag is an electronic toll payment system in which an electronic tag is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and linked to a savings account of the vehicle owner.
The PIL challenged circulars issued by NHAI on February 12 and 14, 2021, which mandated that vehicles without FASTags pay double the toll fees when using the FASTag lanes.
Khanapure argued that converting cash lanes into exclusive FASTag lanes was illegal and arbitrary as it caused undue hardship for commuters, particularly those not familiar with technology.
He also expressed concerns that illiterate individuals and those without bank accounts would be disproportionately impacted, which could violate their rights under Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution.
