Free FASTag at toll plazas: To push the Digital India initiative, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has started giving the RFID tag that helps in the electronic payment of toll charges free at its toll plazas and it will continue till March 1.

NHAI said in a release that with nearly 60 lakh transactions, the daily toll collection through FASTag hit a record Rs 95 crore on Wednesday. NHAI further added that users without FASTags will have to pay double the toll amount in cash.

In case of any technical errors at toll plazas, users will be allowed to cross the plazas without paying a single penny, as long as there is balance in the tags, said NHAI officials. In just two days of the NHAI mandating electronic toll payment, FASTag usage has reached the level of almost 9 in 10 users. To improve FASTag adoption amongst users, NHAI said that FASTag can be availed for free from 770 toll plazas on National and State highways across the country till March 1.

NHAI further stated that users can get a free FASTag at 770 toll plazas on National and State highways across the country till March 1.

A record sales of over 2.5 lakh tags were reported in the last two days, an NHAI release said.

In addition to the above, a ‘Check Balance Status’ feature has been added to the ‘My FASTag App’. The app will show the FASTag wallet balance status in color codes — green for a tag with sufficient balance, orange for low balance, and red for those in negative, said the release. 

Also, users can instantly recharge via the app or at a recharge facility at a toll plaza point of sale, added the release.

What is FASTag and how do you get it?

FASTag is a sticker attached to your windshield from the inside. It has an imprinted radio-frequency identification (RFID) barcode linked to all the registration details of your vehicle. FASTag is valid for five years from the date on which it was issued.  You can get FASTags from toll plazas, banks like SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and apps such as Paytm and Airtel Payments Bank.

Can I buy FASTag at the toll booth?

Yes. One can buy FASTag from a toll plaza.

Is FASTag mandatory from tonight?

Yes. The Central Road Transport and Highways Ministry, helmed by Nitin Gadkari, has made FASTags mandatory on all national highways from February 15 at midnight.

How and where to apply for FASTag?

Vehicle owners can go to any of the Point of the Sale (POS) locations at toll plazas/ issuer agencies to create their FASTag accounts. In order to know more about the same, a vehicle owner can dial the customer care number of the issuer agency.

Documents needed for FASTag

For this, you need documents like registration certificate (RC) of the vehicle, passport size photo of the owner, KYC documents according to the category of the vehicle owner (individual/corporate), identification document (PAN Card, Passport, Voter ID Card) and Aadhar Card with the address.

Can I get FASTag immediately?

In a bid to get FASTag quickly, you can also visit Amazon.in or approach banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Airtel Payments Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and Paytm Payments Bank. Recently, ICICI also announced a collaboration with Google to enable vehicle owners to pay for a FASTag via Google Pay.

To purchase FASTag via a bank, the vehicle owner will have to visit their website. In the case of Airtel Payments Bank, one can purchase these directly from the payments app on your phone.

Can I have two FASTags for one car?

A vehicle owner can purchase only one FASTag for a single vehicle. In case someone has multiple cars, they will need to take separate FASTags for each vehicle.

How to recharge FASTag?

To recharge your FASTag account, you can pay via cheque or online through Credit Card/ Debit Card/NEFT/RTGS/Net Banking. FASTag account can be recharged till Rs 1 lakh. Vehicle owners can also recharge their FASTag accounts via online payment apps like Google Pay, Paytm, Airtel Payments Bank, and PhonePe.

Can I Go Without FASTag?

No. If you don’t have FASTag installed on your windscreen, you will have to pay a heavy fine — double the toll amount.

‘Check Balance Status’

 To help users keep track of the FASTag balance, a ‘Check Balance Status’ feature has been added to the ‘My FASTag App’. The app will show the FASTag wallet balance status in  colour codes — green for a tag with sufficient balance, orange for low balance and red for those in negative, said the release. Also, users can instantly recharge via the app or at a recharge facility at a toll plaza point of sale, added the release.

However, “The Ministry has issued notification GSR 298 E, dated May 15, 2020, for amendment in the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 which provide that if the vehicle is not fitted with “FASTag” or vehicle is without valid or functional “FASTag”, enter into “FASTag lane” of the Fee plazas, then they shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category of vehicles”. Prior to this amendment, the vehicle user was required to shell out twice the toll amount at the toll plaza in a condition when he or she entered the dedicated FASTag lane without FASTag on their vehicle. Interestingly, in January 2020, the NHAI collected a whopping Rs.20 crore from 18 lakh defaulters who entered the FASTag lane without the tag on their vehicles at toll booths. FASTag is an electronic toll collection process rolled out since December 15, 2019 across all toll plazas.