Making FASTag mandatory won't breach right to freedom of movement: Centre to Bombay High Court

The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that making FASTag mandatory for all vehicles plying on national highways does not breach a citizens fundamental right to freedom of movement in any wayThe Centre made the submission in an affidavit filed in the High Court last week in response to a public interest litigation challenging its decision to make FASTag the electronic toll collection chip mandatory for all vehicles at toll plazas on national highways The plea filed by one Arjun Khanapure also challenged the governments norm of imposing fines on vehicles flouting the FASTag rulesThe Centre however submitted that FASTag had been made compulsory on national highways to ensure seamless traffic movement cut travel time short and that all decisions had been taken in accordance with the Central Motor Vehicles CMV RulesThe mandate of using FASTag does not violate a citizens fundamental right to freedom of movement the Centres affidavit stated The petitioner had said that as vehicles without FASTag are prevented from plying on national highways making the chip compulsory breached a citizens fundamental right to freedom of movementHowever the Union government said that as per its notification dated February 14 this year provisions had been made at all toll plazas along national highways to fit the chip in vehicles that did not have FASTagIn cases where it was not possible to fit vehicles with FASTag on the spot for any reason the vehicle was permitted to still ply on highways on extreme left of the FASTag lanes However such vehicles were required to pay twice the toll amountTraffic marshalls had also been deployed along national highways to guide vehicle movement and prevent traffic jams or inconvenience to other commuters because of such vehicles the government saidIn its affidavit filed in the High Court on April 6 the Union government urged the court to dismiss the PIL It said that allowing prayers made in the plea would cause irreparable loss to the National Highways Authority of IndiaThe government further said that it did not make FASTag mandatory overnight and had given incentives including a 10 to 25 per cent cashback to users from 2016 to 2020 The government said it had amended the CMV Rules in 2017 to make FASTag mandatory for all vehicles sold after December 1 2017In November 2020 it further amended the CMV rules to make FASTag compulsory for all vehicles on toll plazas along all national highways beginning January 1 2021 The government also said that the double user fees or penalties imposed on vehicles without FASTag on national highways were in accordance with the National Highway Fee determination of rates and collection Rules 2008It also contended that unlike what was claimed in the PIL Aadhar and linking bank accounts were not mandatory for obtaining FASTag The Centre further said the RBI has announced the enhancement of national electronic toll collection and will allow easy payment options including UPIsCurrently 119 state toll plazas also have FASTag and the Centre has provisions of financial assistance for state governments to help make all highways suitable for FASTag vehicles it said in its affidavit A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni will hear the matter further later this monthThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever