The BHIM app for Android and iPhone now lets you add money to your FASTag account, but you need to follow certain steps to be able to do it.
Recharging your FASTag just became simpler. The National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) has confirmed that users can now recharge their FASTags via the BHIM app. Till now, the FASTags could mostly be topped-up via the portal of the bank which had issued the FASTag, or via the official FASTag app for Android, if you had purchased this on Amazon. The new digital payment functionality in the BHIM app comes ahead of the January 15 deadline which makes FASTags mandatory for transactions at toll plazas on all national highways across India.
“Customers can now recharge their FASTag account hassle-free through BHIM UPI enabled mobile applications just by logging into the BHIM app,” says the NCPI in an official statement.
If you have purchased a FASTag from any of the issuing banks,
here is how you can now add more money into the FASTag account:
• Login to your BHIM UPI App
• Select Send Option on the home screen
• Enter NETC FASTag UPI ID as—netc.VehicleNumber@BankUPIHandle here, the bank UPI handle will be the FASTag issuing bank)
• Click to Verify
• Enter the recharge amount
• Enter the pin to authenticate the transaction
• You will receive an SMS confirming the transaction to your FASTag wallet
The banks that currently offer FASTags include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank as well as the Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank. But quite often, the website or app from which the issuing bank allows you to recharge your FASTag tends to be clunky and not very intuitive. The ability to add money to your FASTag via the BHIM app surely makes things simpler. However, at this time, there is no separate FASTag recharge option available in the BHIM app—though having that would perhaps make things even simpler.
The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) has already confirmed that the FASTag transactions touched the 31.46 million mark on October, with a total transaction value of Rs 702.86 crore.
