New Delhi, July 18 (IANS): The Centre said on Thursday that owners of vehicles with non-affixed FASTag on the front windshield will have to shell out double fee at the toll plazas on national highways.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that deliberate non-affixation of FASTag on the windscreen leads to unnecessary delays at the toll plazas, causing inconvenience to fellow national highway users.

Any FASTag that is not affixed on the assigned vehicle as per the standard process is not entitled to carry out electronic toll collection (ETC) transactions at a user fee plaza and will have to pay a double toll fee besides facing the risk of getting blacklisted, according to the guidelines.

The detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued to all user fee collection agencies and concessionaires to charge double user fees in case of non-affixation of FASTag on the front windshield.

“The information will also be prominently displayed at all user fee plazas, informing highway users about the penalties for non-compliance of entering a toll lane without a fixed FASTag on the windshield,” the guidelines said.

In addition, CCTV footage with Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) at the fee plaza shall be recorded for non-affixed FASTag cases.

The move, said the NHAI, will help in maintaining proper records regarding the fee charged and presence of the vehicle in the toll lane.

At present, user fee is collected for approximately 45,000 km of national highways and expressways at around 1,000 toll plazas on national highways across the country.

“Issuer banks have also been directed to ensure fixation of the FASTag to the assigned vehicle on the front windshield at the time of issuance from various point-of-sale (POS),” said the NHAI.

With a penetration rate of around 98 per cent and over 8 crore users, FASTag has revolutionised the electronic toll collection system in the country.