The New Indian Express ·
Paying cash at toll booths? You could be funding a scam, warns ED
NEW DELHI: If your FASTag fails to scan and you pay cash at a highway toll plaza, that money may never reach the National Highways Authority of India.
The Enforcement Directorate has found it can disappear into a parallel network of fake receipts and private accounts. On Sunday, the ED said toll operators used unauthorised mobile apps, including “Mobdata” and “Any,” to generate counterfeit receipts for cash-paying vehicles. The collections never entered NHAI’s official books.
The practice, investigators found, was systematic across plazas in several states. The scam largely hits drivers of older vehicles, trucks and commercial fleets yet to shift fully to FASTag. Even motorists with valid tags are sometimes forced to pay cash when barriers or scanners fail, with the cash diverted.