I had posted this in the Fastag thread, but thought of starting a new thread since I felt it might be the tip of a larger scam, and in that case would need to get attention of the larger user group.
I am an ICICI Fastag user since its inception, but was not prepared for this surprise. I had driven to Kollur during last weekend and had passed through 3 toll gates on Tumkur road. I realized on the way back that balance is in the low 100's, but it was sufficient to cover the trip with around 200 as balance. I completed the trip with no hassles on Sunday, 2nd June.
I got a text message today (4th June), 11.15 am which reads - My account has been debited with INR 355.0 for dispute on Trip No xyz. In case of discrepancy, please share RC and vehicle image and raise a complaint". The trip number corresponds to Karjeevanhally Toll Plaza (near Tumkur) crossing done on 1st June on the way to Mookambika and I have paid INR 80 through Fastag.
While trying to raise a complaint, I found that
- My tag had been blacklisted due to the negative balance
- I cannot raise a complaint under dispute for Rs 355 since the toll for that particular trip no is only Rs 80 (funny validation by the system)
I raised a ticket under a different category and contacted the customer care, and they agreed that it by a mistake, but said it will take 15 days to resolve the issue since that is there an SLA and they didn't have an answer on what I’d have to do if I have to travel today. After a lot of persuasion, they tried connecting me to an escalation authority which failed the first time. I again convinced the executive that I want to talk to the escalation contact, and I was connected after a long wait. This person said they will try (only try) to take this with High Priority though SLA is 15 days. I was informed I could remove the blacklisting by recharging the card to have a positive balance. She also said that she will do the necessary to modify my ticket with the right category .
After waiting for few days, I could there is nothing done to the ticket. Since there was no ICIC Fastag Tweeter ID, I tweeted to the ICICI support ID with details.
https://twitter.com/GadadharBobby/st...67721498251264
They responded promptly, and assured that it will be settled with priority. After couple of days, they informed me that I have to raise a new ticket under the right category. I told him about the system issue and his suggestion was talk to fastag customer care which I had done on Day 1. He also mentioned that he is from banking team and there is nothing more he can do to help on this.
While talking to fastag helpdesk, first executives version was - the toll plaza has raised a dispute for non-payment for whatever reason though it was deducted from my account. But even then, charge for a car is on INR 80 (355 might be for a multi-axle truck or is it with a penalty?). Escalation person said it might be a system issue.
After posting in TeamBhp
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...using-227.html (FASTag: All you need to know about procuring & using it!) and through other connects, I got to know about 3 instances where people faced the same situation and one was in the same toll plaza. Another one was on Paytm Fastag (not isolated to ICICI) for INR 150 the message doesn’t state which trip or toll plaza, he had travelled Bangalore Kochi route on the mentioned time frame. There was no text message for Paytm (ICICI had), it came to notice while he checked the history on the website.
While fighting to get my money back, I have a larger concern if this is tip of a larger scam. I have never faced any similar issue with Fastag in the past, and all of sudden there are many who faced the same issue. Most of us won’t take the pain of tracking all the toll transactions and these things can easily go unnoticed. Are the toll guys trying to take us for a ride.
Please share your experience and thoughts.