Public complaints regarding the quality of national highways registered a steep 60% increase in 2025-26 compared to the previous year, according to data tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written response on Wednesday, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister said grievances related to highway construction, maintenance, and riding surface conditions surged significantly in 2025-26. As per the data, complaints received through the public grievance portal jumped to 11,340 (as of March 12, 2026), compared to 7,030 in 2024-25 and 6,489 in 2023-24. In 2022-23, the number of complaints stood at 7,318.
The current spike is the highest recorded in the past four years. This comes at a time when highway construction has been backed by increased budgetary allocations, a large part of which goes into maintaining quality of the project to ensure road safety.
According to the data, 9,977 complaints were resolved in 2025-26 (up to March 12), compared to 7,066 in 2024-25.
“The Government takes cognizance of these grievances, apart from regular review and monitoring of NH projects … Actions against defaulting agencies are taken as per the provisions,” said Gadkari.
He further said that to address quality concerns, the government has introduced several technology-driven measures such as use of automated and machine-aided construction techniques, periodic road condition assessments using Network Survey Vehicles, and geo-tagging of defects through a centralised mobile application. Drone-based monitoring and artificial intelligence tools are also being deployed to evaluate construction quality and progress.
