National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) saw a decline of 8% in FASTag prices. In the first half of 2021, NHAI earned Rs. 165 on every FASTag as against Rs. 179 a year ago, Business Standard reported.
Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, director and practice leader — transport & logistics told Business Standard, “There is a dip in the collection on a per FASTag basis. This can be attributed to the expanding coverage of FASTag, indicating a shift in adoption from high-frequency toll road users (truckers) to normal users. Indications are that we have achieved 95%+ FASTag adoption and hence the level of Rs 150- 160 per FASTag per month can be taken as the norm for future projections.”
From January to June 2021, NHAI collected 15,518.8 crores from tolls as compared to Rs 7,786.76 crore last year. The traffic volume also increased in 2021 with 635 million vehicles passing through the tolls. However, the traffic volume dropped to 116.48 million in May as many states imposed lockdowns due to COVID-19. According to Business Standard, the numbers have risen since the easing of lockdowns. In June, the volume reached 157.86 million surpassing January’s figure of 148.56 million.
FASTags were mandated by Union Government on January 1, 2021. It was mandatory on February 15. Any vehicle without the FASTags will be charged double at the toll plaza.
