Toll fraud: ED busts 100 plazas using ‘Mobdata’ & ‘Any’ apps to siphon crores from non-FASTag vehicles
During the raids, the agency seized approximately ₹1.03 crore in cash, alongside account books, bank documents, and digital devices. Additionally, eight bank accounts linked to the fraudulent operations were frozen.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) allegedly discovered a massive toll collection scam, revealing that about 100 NHAI-authorised highway plazas across the country used unauthorised digital applications to illegally collect crores of rupees from vehicles without FASTag stickers, according to news agency PTI.
Modus Operandi: How the Scam Worked
FASTag—an RFID passive tag affixed to windshields—enables automatic and lawful toll payments directly from linked bank accounts; vehicles without these tags typically pay in cash.
To exploit this, toll plaza operators deployed two unauthorised apps, identified by the ED as ‘Mobdata’ and ‘Any’, according to the PTI report.
When a non-FASTag vehicle approached the plaza, the operators used these apps to generate fake toll receipts. These parallel portals enabled operators to collect cash while completely concealing transactions from the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) official system.
By bypassing lawful toll reporting, the intermediaries and entrusted toll collection entities pocketed crores, causing massive revenue losses to the NHAI.
ED raids and recoveries
Following the discovery, the central agency launched multi-state searches on September 2, raiding 14 premises across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, and the Delhi-NCR region.
“Forensic examination of digital devices seized from the accused revealed that this mechanism was used on around 100 toll plazas, and unauthorised toll receipts running in crores from the digital records have been recorded,” the ED said in a statement.
During the raids, the agency seized approximately ₹1.03 crore in cash, alongside account books, bank documents, and digital devices. Additionally, eight bank accounts linked to the fraudulent operations were frozen.
Origin of probe
The ED's investigation stems from a criminal case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency took cognisance of a January 2025 FIR registered by the Mirzapur district police in Uttar Pradesh, which initially flagged large-scale fraudulent toll collection at the local Atraila Shiv Gulam toll plaza and highlighted a wider network operating across the country.
The ED noted that its probe indicates the active involvement of several intermediaries and NHAI-entrusted entities in deploying these rogue applications, adding that further examination is underway to dismantle the wider network.
(With PTI inputs)
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