New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said around 100 highway toll plazas operated by NHAI-authorised entities allegedly used two "unauthorised" apps to collect illegal toll payments worth crores of rupees from vehicles without FASTag stickers.

The agency said it conducted searches across multiple states on September 2 as part of its probe, covering 14 premises in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Delhi-NCR.

FASTag is an RFID-based passive tag linked to a customer's prepaid, savings or current account. Fixed to a vehicle's windshield, it enables electronic toll payments as vehicles pass through toll plazas without stopping.

According to the ED, the two "unauthorised" apps identified in the case are 'Mobdata' and 'Any'.

The agency alleged that the applications were developed and deployed to facilitate toll collection from vehicles that did not carry FASTag stickers. Online portals were also maintained to monitor the alleged illegal collections, it said.

"Forensic examination of digital devices seized from 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," it added.

The ED initiated a criminal investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of an FIR registered by Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district police in January 2025.

The FIR relates to alleged large-scale fraudulent toll collection at the Atraila Shiv Gulam toll plaza in Mirzapur and several other toll plazas across the country.

The police complaint alleged that the apps were being used to generate fake receipts and keep the collections outside the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) official system, thereby bypassing legitimate toll reporting mechanisms and causing revenue losses to the authority.

The ED said its investigation so far points to the involvement of intermediaries and toll collection entities entrusted with toll operations by the NHAI in deploying the unauthorised applications.

The agency said it has also detected a "wider network" involving toll plazas and individuals and entities, which will require further investigation.

During the searches, the ED said it seized around Rs 1.03 crore in cash along with account books, bank-related documents and digital devices. Eight bank accounts were also frozen as part of the investigation.