It came to light recently that some truck drivers were using a nifty tricks to evade toll tax. In one of the trick, they carried a set of FASTags (one functioning and one blacklisted). For the purpose of deceiving, they pasted the blacklisted tag on the windscreen while withheld the valid one until the point that toll operator came under pressure and let them go without paying.

Furthermore, to bolster their case, the drivers would argue upon calling the helpline number 1033 that they were not being allowed to go despite of having a valid FASTag and insisted being checked with a handheld machine. The trick employed was that they would reveal the valid number to the customer care while toll booth operator were shown the blacklisted tag. Upon investigation and matching the numbers this was caught and the modus operandi was revealed. Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has been asked to identify all such vehicles. As a method of discouragement and prevent further issues of this kind, both tags of these vehicles were blacklisted upon being caught. Using the technique, drivers were saving up to about 1500 Rs in some cases.

Another trick being used by some drivers was to use enable and disable feature of the PayTM wallet to avoid paying. After NHAI asked the PayTM, this loophole was closed too. It's expected that in coming days FASTag operation will become smoother as more rough edges are ironed out making the FASTag hopefully truly worthy of the tagline "Easy to cruise".