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While driving on National Highways and Expressways across the country, when one has to get stuck in long queues at toll plazas, or is asked for extra money when the scanner does not work despite having Fastag, then every passenger’s journey becomes meaningless. Apart from this, rudeness of toll booth employees, dirt in washrooms and non-availability of clean drinking water have been a headache for highway travelers for years. But now the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken a revolutionary step to directly crack down on this arbitrariness and chaos of toll operators. NHAI has launched its official mobile application ‘Rajmargyatra’ Launched a state-of-the-art real-time citizen feedback and grievance module.
The biggest objective of this new feature is to provide direct empowerment to highway users. Now any normal driver on the highway, after crossing any toll plaza, will be able to give star rating to the toll services within a few seconds from his smartphone and can send his complaint directly to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI Headquarters. The Road Transport Ministry believes that this transparent digital system will ensure accountability of toll companies and there will be a world of difference in the civic facilities available on the highways.
After the implementation of FASTag in India, the toll cutting time has reduced to a great extent, but the problems of passengers at the ground level have not completely ended. It is often seen that during peak hours or festive seasons, lines of vehicles more than 100 meters long form at the toll plaza. NHAI has clear rules that if there is a queue beyond the 100 meter yellow line or a vehicle takes more than 10 seconds to cross the toll, then there is a rule to pass that vehicle free without charging toll, but in practice, toll workers openly flout this rule.
Apart from this, the common complaints have been double deduction of toll from Fastag wallet, double cash recovery by claiming blacklisting due to technical fault, not giving way to ambulance or emergency vehicles from VIP lane and heavy filth in public toilets of the highway. Till now, passengers only had the option to call the 1033 helpline number, where it took time to lodge a complaint due to busyness or call drops. The new in-app feedback feature makes this process completely transparent and automated.
This new feature of NHAI is based on geo-fencing and GPS technology. As soon as your vehicle reaches or crosses a toll plaza on a National Highway, the app will automatically identify that specific toll booth. Passengers can register their views under this process:
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Open the Highway Yatra app: Open the official ‘Rajmargyatra App’ of NHAI in your Android or iOS smartphone.
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Auto selection of toll plaza: Tap on the ‘Toll Feedback & Facilities’ tab in the app. The name of the toll you just crossed will automatically appear on the screen based on the GPS location (or you can select the toll name yourself in the search bar).
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Select rating and category: User gets the option to give 1 to 5 star rating. Additionally, the exact category of the problem has to be selected—such as long waiting lines, malfunctioning Fastag scanner, employee misbehavior, invalid overcharging, or poor condition of toilet and drinking water facilities.
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Add photo/video and comment: Passengers can upload a live photo of the spot, a short video or a screenshot of the toll slip directly from the camera and write their brief statement.
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Unique Ticket Number: Once submitted, the passenger gets a digital tracking ID, through which he can see what cognizance has been taken by the NHAI regional officer on his complaint.
Often, after registering a complaint on government portals, there remains a doubt whether merely giving feedback will change the ground reality? This time NHAI has directly linked this feedback system to the contractual and financial interests of the toll companies.
Under the new policy framework of NHAI, all toll plazas in the country will be given a ‘Monthly Key Performance Indicator – KPI’ based on the ratings they receive from users. If a toll plaza gets consistently poor ratings and there are frequent complaints of long queues or unsanitary conditions, then NHAI will impose heavy financial penalty on that toll concessionaire/contractor. Additionally, under strict contract rules, if an agency’s rating remains ‘Poor’ for several consecutive months, its toll collection contract can be prematurely canceled and it can also be blacklisted for future highway projects.
Along with the new digital feedback feature, NHAI has also updated its 24×7 emergency helpline number. 1033 has also been fully integrated with this system. If a commuter faces any security threat, violence, medical emergency or vehicle accident at the toll plaza, he or she can send an SOS alert directly to 1033.
As soon as the call is registered, an immediate alert is sent to the nearest highway patrolling van and toll manager. Additionally, the nodal system of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and issuing banks for complaints of wrong deduction of Fastag is also being linked through the app for real-time dispute resolution, so that the excess deducted money can be refunded directly to the passenger’s bank account.
Every citizen pays heavy toll tax from his own pocket to travel on national highways. In return for this payment, it is the statutory right of every passenger to have smooth, safe, pothole-free roads and world-class infrastructure. Seeing mismanagement at the toll booth, moving forward silently or reluctantly accepting the inconvenience promotes chaos.
This new feedback feature of NHAI is like a powerful digital weapon in the hands of citizens. Whenever you go out on the highway, keep the Highway Yatra app active in your phone and enter unbiased feedback about the good or bad system of the toll plaza. Only this collective digital voice of the public will curb the arbitrariness of highway operators and make India’s national highways safe and stress-free.