Consumer court fines toll plaza in Odisha for unauthorised deduction from fastag wallet

A consumer court in Sambalpur district has imposed a fine on a toll plaza over National Highway-53 at Barhagoda in Bargarh district for alleged unauthorised deduction of fee from fastag of two vehicles.

Hearing the complaints, the court ordered the plaza to pay Rs 25,000 each to two vehicle owners as fine. The court also ordered the toll plaza to pay them Rs 5000 each towards their legal expenses.

Apart from that the court also ordered to reimburse the amount deducted from the fastag with 12 percent interest.

As per reports, the two vehicles never passed the toll plaza at Barhagoda. Instead, they took a left turn 200mtrs before the plaza and moved on the State Highway connecting Barhagoda with Tora.

However, despite not passing through the plaza, toll amount was deducted from their fastag wallet.

Surprised and irritated by the deduction, both the vehicle owners had approached the consumer court at Sambalpur and filed two separate complaints.

It is pertinent to mention here that the deduction of money from fastag wallet on the State Highway running adjacent to the NH has been a regular occurrence on that stretch. Commuters have been expressing their displeasure over it for long.

The recent court order penalising the toll plaza is expected to curb the menace.