FASTags in India: Why is it mandatory for your vehicles to have one now?

Road trips are fun, and the experience that we get through driving around well-connected highways further adds to the fun. Except for the idea of passing through the tolls! This creates unexpected delays and waiting for your turn to come in long queues to pay the tolls.

But now, you can bid goodbye to long queues, as FASTag has been made mandatory, which means, you can zip past the toll by just showing this tag. The Transport Ministry recently extended the deadline till December 15, which was initially set to December 1. Here’s all you need to know about these FASTags.
What is FASTag?

FASTag has now been made mandatory for toll payment on national highways. These are stickers that you can stick in the windshield of your vehicle, enabling electronic payment while crossing any toll booth. Meant to support government’s plan for 100 per cent electronic toll collection on highways, it is an electronic toll collection system, operated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), allowing you to make toll payments directly from your linked account through RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology). How to get a FASTag?

Currently issued by 23 certified banks, including payments bank, small finance banks, and co-operative banks. The tags sold by banks are, however, not ‘bank-neutral’, which means a FASTag bought from one bank can be recharged through that particular bank only and not via other banks. However, tags sold/distributed by NHAI are bank-neutral, and one can use any bank account to recharge/top up the amount in the tag.

You can also get them from select toll plazas, RTOs, petrol pumps, and also from online platforms, such as Amazon and Paytm..

Why is it important to have FASTag?

If your vehicle doesn’t have a FASTag and you enter the FASTag lane, you will be charged twice the toll amount.

How much will this cost?

It will cost you around INR 200, and you will also have to pay a refundable deposit, which will depend on the kind of vehicle you own that you can reclaim once you terminate your FastTAG account. The account can be recharged through your Credit/Debit Card or even through net banking. While the minimum recharge amount has been fixed at INR 100, the maximum amount is set at INR 100000. There is also a web portal for FASTag to help you keep a track of your accounts.