Evaluate the privacy, enforcement and grievance-redressal concerns of camera-based automated tolling, and suggest safeguards.

Camera-based automated tolling, called Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), reads a vehicle's FASTag through RFID and its number plate through ANPR cameras, so vehicles pay toll without stopping. India's first MLFF went live at Choryasi, Gujarat, in 2026 [1]. MLFF saves time, but it moves enforcement from the boom barrier to a back office. That raises three real concerns, all of which can be managed.

Privacy concerns

• Movement logs: ANPR records every vehicle's plate, time and location, which builds up a travel history of citizens.
• Proportionality: privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 (Puttaswamy, 2017) [2]. Collecting and keeping such data must be necessary and proportionate.
• Purpose limitation: the DPDP Act, 2023 covers this personal data [3]. However, no toll-specific rules on how long images are kept or who can see them are publicly available.

Enforcement concerns

• Mismatched data: NHAI found FASTags linked to the wrong registration number (VRN). Correct e-Notices depend on accurate vehicle data [4].
• Weak tag base: several tags were issued for one vehicle, and some without KYC. This led to the 'One Vehicle One FASTag' drive [5].
• Leakage: an unpaid e-Notice is lost revenue unless the 2× fee and FASTag blacklisting are followed up [1].
• Wrong rates collected faster: the CAG found an undue burden of ₹132.05 crore on users, because tolls were collected even though construction was delayed [6]. Automation collects such errors without friction.

Grievance-redressal concerns

• A user may file a representation on a portal within 72 hours of the e-Notice, after which the fee becomes 2× [7]. This window is short for users who miss an SMS or have sold the vehicle.
• The burden of proof shifts to the user, who must prove the plate was misread.

Safeguards

• Privacy: fixed retention limits, use only for tolling, and access logs, all under DPDP rules [3].
• Data hygiene: finish validating VRNs against VAHAN before more plazas go barrier-less [4].
• Fair redressal: pause the 72-hour clock while a dispute is open, and require a human to review the ANPR image.
• Transparency: publish plaza-wise e-Notice data: issued, paid, disputed and found wrong.
• Phased rollout: start with congested plazas, as the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended [8].

Overall, MLFF's gains in time, fuel and transparency are real. Its concerns arise from weak data and process, not from the technology itself. With privacy-by-design, clean data and a fair dispute process, barrier-less tolling can respect Article 21 and still deliver ease of living and efficient logistics.