FASTag is an electronic toll collection system in India, operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). By using a prepaid tag, pay toll on national highways instead of standing in long queues. FASTags are part of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that FASTags will become mandatory for all vehicles from 1st December 2019.
It works by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it.
It affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables us to drive through toll plazas without stopping for transactions.
The tag can be purchased from official Tag issuers or participating Banks and if it is linked to a prepaid account, then recharging or top-up can be as per requirement.
Any vehicle which has the FASTag will be able to swiftly make contactless payments at toll on national highways.
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Table of Contents
What is FASTag?
FASTag is an Electronic Toll Collection tag that enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction by the Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
when the vehicle at the toll plaza, FASTag is read by the tag reader at the plaza and the toll amount is deducted automatically.
Customer who paid toll fee by this Tag, he/she will receive SMS alerts on his registered mobile numbers for all the transactions done in his tag account.
Presently this Tag operational at 180 toll plazas across national and state highways.
This FASTag account will be recharge online through, Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/ RTGS or Net Banking.
It has a validity of 5 years and after purchasing it, you only need to recharge the FASTag as per your requirement.
How does FASTag work?
- FASTag is ab electronic toll collection system operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) automatic deduction of toll charges from your registered account.
- This tag is attached to the windshield of your car, from the inside. This is Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) enabled and is linked with the registration details of your vehicle. As you drive through any toll plaza, there will be dedicated lanes that have FASTag readers installed overhead and as your vehicle passes beneath them, the RFID code is detected, and the necessary amount deducted from the prepaid balance.
- “FASTags would enable all vehicles to pay toll fee digitally while providing the convenience of faster movement across toll plazas.
- This FASTag account will be recharge online through, Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/ RTGS or Net Banking.
- This eliminates long queues at toll plazas with consequent saving in fuel and time.
- FASTags would also enable toll payments across State and district highways and even for parking in cities in the near future.
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What are the benefits of using FASTag?
- Ease of payment. No need to carry cash for the toll transactions and saves time.
- This eliminates long queues at toll plazas.
- saving in fuel and time.
- Near non-stop movement of vehicles leading to lower fuel cost.
- SMS alerts for toll transactions, low balance, etc.
- It Reduced air pollution.
- Reduced use of paper.
- Reduced toll payment hassles.
- FASTag Reduced effort in management at the toll plaza.
- Reduced effort in monitoring centrally.
How can I buy FASTag and what documents are required?
The customer visits any of the Point of Sale (POS) locations at Toll Plazas.
The customer needs to submit a copy of the following documents along with the application form:
- vehicle Registration Certificate (RC).
- vehicle owner’s Passport size photograph.
- KYC documents as per the category of the vehicle owner.
For Individual :
ID proof and Address proof and 1 passport size photograph.
ID proof and Address proof may be one of the following-
- Driving License
- PAN Card
- Passport
- Voter ID Card
- Aadhar Card (with address)
A valid driving license would be sufficient for Address & ID proof For instance.
For Corporate customers: visit the website of the participating banks/issuer Agency.
How to recharge the balance on the FASTag.
- To recharging the balance on the FASTag, You can log in to the payment system of the bank which has issued the FASTag and make the recharge from your bank account.
- Or if you bought it from Paytm, you recharge your linked Paytm account and the balance shall be deducted from that every time you pass through a toll plaza on a national highway.
- You can also download the My FASTag app (free for Android on the Google Play Store; still not available for Apple iPhone) and recharge your FASTag via the unified payments interface (UPI) there.
- Rs 150 as the first recharge for your FASTag.
- The banks that currently offer FASTags are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank as well as Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank.
- The advantage of buying the FASTag from the bank where you have your savings or salary account is that they can pre-link it with your bank account for easy recharge later.
Conclusion :
This FASTag or digital payment system deployed by state and central governments, the Traffic Police, insurance companies, and toll collection authorities. If the same method is also activated for payment for parking as well as for paying for fuel fill-ups, the same standards will be followed by the municipalities and private operators as well. This eliminates long queues at toll plazas with consequent saving in fuel and time.
for more details please visit the official website: https://www.fastag.org/fasttag
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