NHAI did not implement mandatory toll reduction, users paid Rs 180.44 crore: CAG report

National highway users across India had borne an undue financial burden of Rs 180.44 crore through toll payments, as the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed that the National Highways Authority of India had failed to implement the prescribed fee rules, thereby exposing systemic lapses in regulatory compliance within toll operations.

The audit report, which was tabled in Parliament on March 30, underscored that upon assuming toll collection following the expiry of concession agreements, the authority had neglected to reduce user charges to 40 per cent, a mandatory stipulation under the National Highway Fee Rules, 2008, and consequently imposed avoidable financial strain upon road users who continued to remit inflated toll amounts.

The findings further revealed procedural inefficiencies during the review of toll operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra, wherein ineffective enforcement of directives issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, alongside policy circulars promulgated by the authority itself, culminated in a revenue loss amounting to Rs 9.60 crore.

Moreover, the report observed that protracted delays in settling payments owed to a concessionaire precipitated an additional loss of toll revenue quantified at Rs 9.68 crore, thereby accentuating administrative inertia and deficient financial management within the operational framework.

The auditor also identified structural deficiencies arising from the absence of a uniform system, which, compounded by data-migration challenges and operational inefficiencies, had impeded seamless toll management and undermined institutional accountability.