FASTag compulsory for payments at toll plazas from December 1

FASTag made mandatory for vehicles passing through toll plazas on national highways  from December 1

National  highways  in the country have, no doubt,  made long distance drives easy, fast and enjoyable. But the long wait due to traffic blocks at toll plazas for remitting fee for using the highways  kills the joy of a hassle-free journey.   Often the payment points do not have enough changes to pay back  the balance payments  to the driver,  forcing  him  to forget  the amount. At the end of the journey,  he might have made the plaza employees rich handsomely.

To  address  these problems the government has  introduced FAStags on all vehicles passing through toll plazas which enabled the  payments digital and also without stopping  the vehicles  at the toll  booths.

FASTags on vehicles using highways  will be  compulsory from December 1st.  When  it  becomes mandatory,  long  distance journeys  literally become less tiring   and  financially beneficial to the drivers.  It  also saves them  from  unnecessary  arguments  over balance payments with the toll plaza employees.

A FASTag is a sticker equipped with  a  chip and an antenna, fixed on the vehicle’s window screen  that  enables  automatic collection  of  toll charges when the vehicle  passes  through the  toll plazas, without stopping at the booths.

The FASTag uses  radio-frequency  identification (RFID) technology to  recognize the vehicle passing through the toll plaza, type of  the vehicle  and the status of the tag to fix the charges.

It is also connected to the  owner’s  bank  account  as per the information furnished  by  him, which enables automatic deduction of the payment.

FASTag  payment facility is available at present at 450 toll  plazas  across  the national and state highways  in  the country. More payment  booths will be added to it soon.

  A list of FASTag  payment-facility toll plazas is available on the National Payment Corporation of India’s website: npci.org.in/netc.

A 2.5 per cent cash back scheme  on FASTag payments  is also available  until March 31, 2020.

 All  lanes, except  one  each on both sides for vehicles without  FAStag stickers,  are marked for FASTag payment facility.   If a vehicle  without  a FASTag enters this  lane has to make double toll  charges.

FASTags  are issued by select banks  and some  other  authorized  institutions.  A list of the banks and other institutions which issue FASTag is  available on the NPCI website.

Charges for  a FASTag  vary  depending on the issuing agent. The documents required for a FASTag includes registratio5n certificate of the vehicle, passport size photograph of the owner and  KYC documents.

The FASTag is vehicle specific and cannot be transferred. If you sell the vehicle, you have to cancel your  FASTag  account and the new owner has to get another FASTag  for the vehicle in his name.

For more information , please visit National  Payment Corporation of India’s website: npci.org.in/netc