Paying cash at toll plazas? ED warns of fake receipts and fraud

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has warned motorists against making cash payments at toll plazas when they encounter problems scanning their FASTag. The agency said such payments may not reach the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and could instead be diverted to private accounts through fake receipts.

The warning comes as part of an ED investigation into an alleged toll collection fraud spanning several states. Investigators found that some toll operators were allegedly using unauthorised mobile applications, including ‘Mobdata’ and ‘Any’, to generate fake receipts for motorists who paid in cash. These collections were not entered into NHAI’s official records, officials said.

The alleged scam is reportedly prevalent at toll plazas in several states, with drivers of older vehicles and trucks that have not fully transitioned to FASTag among those particularly vulnerable.

When FASTag scanning fails as vehicles pass through a toll plaza, motorists may be asked to pay the toll in cash using private scanners at the booths. According to the ED, such payments can be collected without being reflected in NHAI’s records.

As part of the probe, ED teams conducted searches on September 2 at multiple locations in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The investigation is centred on alleged illegal cash collections at the Atraila toll plaza in Mirzapur and other toll plazas. Uttar Pradesh Police had earlier found that vehicles arriving at the Atraila plaza with insufficient FASTag balance were allegedly being charged through an unauthorised mobile application.

A forensic examination of devices seized during the investigation reportedly found that unauthorised apps had been deployed at around 100 toll plazas.

The ED also recovered digital records of illegal receipts involving transactions worth crores of rupees. Following the discovery of the alleged fraud, intermediaries and toll operators handling NHAI-managed toll plazas have come under scrutiny. During the searches conducted so far, the agency has seized around Rs 1.03 crore in cash, officials said.