The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday announced that restrictions imposed on vehicles using FASTag at the departure lanes of Terminal 3 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport have been removed following intervention by the authorities.
The move comes after former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar complained that vehicles with annual FASTag passes were being denied entry to the departure lanes unless they maintained a separate balance in their main FASTag accounts.
In a post on X, NHAI said the issue had been taken up with the relevant stakeholders to address the inconvenience faced by commuters.
"Following the intervention of the concerned authorities, restrictions on vehicles with FASTag at Terminal 3 (T3) of @DelhiAirport have been removed," the highway authority said.
The clarification follows concerns over the use of FASTag payment arrangements to regulate vehicle access to airport departure areas.
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ท๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐น๐ฎ๐ด๐ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
The controversy began after Kumar raised the issue on social media on October 13, alleging that a new entry procedure had been introduced at Terminal 3 without prior notification.
According to Kumar, vehicles carrying annual FASTag passes were not being permitted to enter the departure lanes unless sufficient funds were available in their regular FASTag accounts.
He alleged that vehicles failing to meet this requirement were being redirected towards the airport parking area.
"All of a sudden a new process has been introduced by @DelhiAirportGMR that it will not allow cars with annual @fastagofficial pass to enter the departure lanes of Terminal 3," Kumar wrote.
He said vehicles were being required to maintain a balance in their main FASTag accounts, failing which they had to proceed to the parking area.
"No prior notice. No explanation. Completely arbitrary. Maximising passenger harassment," he said.
Kumar tagged NHAI and the Airports Authority of India in his post, urging them to examine the matter and take corrective action.
๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐
Responding to the complaint, the Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), which manages the FASTag system, clarified that FASTag was a payment instrument for parking facilities at airports and could not be used as a mechanism to enforce vehicle entry restrictions.
The company acknowledged the inconvenience and said the matter had been taken up with the concerned authorities.
"FASTag is a payment instrument for parking facilities at airports & can't be used as a means of enforcing entry restrictions," IHMCL said.
It further stated that the concerned bank had been directed to discontinue such restrictions.
The clarification established a distinction between using FASTag to collect parking charges and making the availability of funds in a FASTag account a condition for accessing airport departure lanes.
๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ
Following the complaint, NHAI took up the matter with the relevant stakeholders.
The highway authority subsequently confirmed on Thursday that the restrictions had been withdrawn.
The decision is expected to address the difficulty faced by motorists using annual FASTag passes while dropping passengers at Terminal 3.
The incident had raised questions about the implementation of payment-related procedures at airport entry points, particularly when changes are introduced without advance information to commuters.
NHAI's intervention has clarified that FASTag arrangements for parking payments should not be used independently to prevent vehicles from accessing airport departure lanes.
The authority did not announce any additional changes to the existing parking fee structure or other airport traffic regulations.
With the restrictions now removed, vehicles using FASTag will no longer face the specific entry condition flagged in Kumar's complaint at Terminal 3.