New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday unveiled another set of digital services on its Rajmargyatra mobile application, introducing an online local toll pass and an AI-powered help centre aimed at making National Highway travel more seamless. However, the latest announcement comes against the backdrop of mounting complaints that the app itself is plagued by technical problems, raising questions over NHAI's digital-first strategy.
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Under the new initiative, residents living within a 20-km radius of an eligible toll plaza can now apply for a local monthly toll pass through the Rajmargyatra app instead of visiting the toll plaza and submitting documents in person.
The facility has initially been rolled out at the Mundka–Bakkarwala Toll Plaza on Delhi's Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) and will be extended to more toll plazas across the country over the coming months.
According to NHAI, the app retrieves verified details such as the commuter's address, vehicle registration and linked FASTag through DigiLocker and VAHAN. Eligibility is determined using GIS-based verification, eliminating manual documentation.
NHAI has also launched 'MargMitra', an AI-enabled digital help centre integrated into the Rajmargyatra app. The platform allows commuters to type or speak their queries in any of the 22 scheduled Indian languages.
The chatbot is designed to provide information on FASTag recharge, KYC requirements, refund status, annual and local passes, while also allowing users to register complaints, track grievance resolution, check FASTag blacklisting status, view pending e-notices and report road safety issues such as stalled vehicles and encroachments.
While the new features promise greater convenience, many commuters say the Rajmargyatra app has struggled to deliver even its existing services.
Users have repeatedly reported that the application frequently crashes, hangs during verification, fails to load pages and encounters payment errors. Several commuters have also complained that the app becomes unresponsive while processing requests, forcing them to abandon transactions midway.
Among the biggest grievances is the inability to purchase or activate the annual toll pass through the Rajmargyatra app. Numerous users have taken to social media and online forums to report unsuccessful attempts to complete the process, despite repeated retries. Many say they are left with no option but to visit toll plazas or customer support, undermining the very objective of digitising highway services.
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The latest rollout highlights NHAI's determination to transform Rajmargyatra into a comprehensive digital platform for highway commuters. On paper, the app now offers an expanding range of services that could reduce paperwork and improve convenience.
However, unless NHAI addresses the app's persistent technical shortcomings and ensures that its existing services function reliably, the addition of new features may do little to improve the experience of highway users. For many commuters, the challenge is no longer the absence of digital services, but the inability to use the ones that already exist.
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