How to Recharge Fastag with Barcode?

Table of Contents

How to Recharge FASTag using Barcode

Recently, FASTag has become one of the most important things for four-wheeled vehicle owners, especially those who have to travel interstate often. It is mandatory for all vehicle owners to have FASTag for toll deduction, or else vehicle owners have to additional fine along with their toll amount. FASTag is not just about purchasing the car and then sticking it to your vehicle; it needs to be recharged frequently to move freely through the FASTag toll plaza. There are many ways to recharge your FASTag. One such option has been made available to you through UPI-built applications, through which you can recharge your FASTag using a barcode.

Recharge Fastag account using Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, & BHIM

UPI-built applications such as Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, and BHIM allow vehicle owners to recharge their FASTag account or wallet in simple steps. All they require is their UPI ID along with their vehicle registration number. Recharging the FASTag account through UPI is extremely easy and convenient. Simply add money to your Paytm or PhonePe wallet and FASTag will automatically deduct an amount from it.

Recharge FASTag using My FASTag Scanner App

You can use the FASTag scanner app to buy, recharge, and check your FASTag balance. The NHAI has launched two mobile applications, My FASTag and FASTag Partner, for this purpose.

Steps to use the My FASTag APP:

Download the My FASTag App on your smart device. (Android or IOS).
On the homepage, click on the option “Activate NHAI FASTag”.
If you have purchased your FASTag online, then click on “Activate NHAI FASTag
bought online” on the next page.
Next, click on “Scan QR Code”, which is provided on your FASTag card.
After that, provide the details of your vehicle mentioned there.
Also, you must add or link a payment method to your FASTag card to recharge
your FASTag account.

In addition to Paytm wallets and bank accounts, you also have the option to link your
FASTag account to the National Highway Authority of India NHAI wallet. This wallet will be available to you on the My FASTag app. Following activation, you can easily recharge your FASTag account/wallet, check your balance, and monitor your transaction history.

Indian roads, especially highways, have become good in the last few years. The infrastructure of the roads has been improved to a great extent, providing uninterrupted traffic flow without any jams on the roads. If you are a frequent traveller, you might not face any problems on these roads and can have a smooth journey, but still, there were some things that were not under our control, and you would usually hate during your journeys. One such problem travellers face is long queues at toll plazas across the highway, which would waste a lot of time waiting for your turn. But now the government has introduced FASTag for vehicles, which has been mandatory for four-wheelers since December 2019. More than 600+ toll plazas across the country are equipped with FASTag. Let us get to know about what FASTag is, the benefits of FASTag, how to get FASTag for your vehicles, and when your FASTag is blacklisted.

What is FASTag?

With the help of the National Payments Corporation of India, the government of India has developed the NETC program, which refers to the National Electronic Toll Collection. This program allows the collection of toll tax without any human intervention. This program, also known as FASTag, helps reduce the rush at toll plazas across the. The FASTag is a device that uses RFID technology and radio frequency identification, which will deduct the toll charges automatically when the vehicle passes through the FASTag lane of the toll plaza. The FASTag sticker is applied on the front windscreen of the four-wheelers, and when they pass through the toll, the money will be auto-debited from the FASTag account linked to the vehicle.

Things to know about FASTag

Though FASTag is an easy and convenient method to pay your toll tax without any human intervention, still there are some points about the technology that are necessary to know before you move your vehicle on highways:

FASTag can be used at any toll plaza across the country, regardless of who is the acquirer of the toll plaza.
FASTag is affixed on the front windscreen of the four-wheeler.
If you own more than one four-wheeler, you must have separate FASTags for both vehicles. You cannot use the same FASTag for multiple cars.
Once you have purchased a FASTag for a vehicle, it will be valid for 5 years. You can recharge the FASTag as required after buying it.
FASTag can be recharged online through net banking, UPI, debit cards, credit cards, and Paytm. The minimum amount to recharge FASTag is Rs100, and the maximum amount is Rs 1,00,000.
You should always buy FASTag from trusted banking partners only.
You should never buy a FASTag from a company which asks to link your bank account. You should always use prepaid service for the FASTag.

What are the benefits of using FASTag?

The FASTag has many advantages for wheeler owners. The benefits of FASTag are listed below:

Cashless Payments

One of the best advantages of making FASTag compulsory is the tension of having an exact change at toll plazas. The transaction will be cashless and money will be automatically debited from your FASTag wallets.

Mobile Alerts through SMS

Whenever you will pass through any toll plaza, you will receive sms alerts on your registered mobile numbers when money will be deducted from FASTag. You will also receive alerts for low balance in your FASTag wallet.

Online Recharge

This is one of the best advantages of having FASTag. You can recharge it anytime using debit cards, net banking, and UPI.

Faster Moving on Highway

Thus it also reduces the traveling time from one place to another as it will reduce human intervention saving your precious time.

Cashback Offers

For promote FASTag government is providing very good cashback offers for the users. Currently, they are providing 2.5% cashback for every transaction through the FASTag wallet.

How to buy FASTags?

FASTags can be bought from various sources . Many nationalized and private banks are providing the facility to create a FASTag account. Moreover, some of the payment wallets such as paytm are also issuing the FASTag for the four wheelers. You can also buy FASTag at toll plazas, where they have a Point of sale (POS) which will help in getting FASTag.

List of Banks Providing FASTags Account

Airtel Payments Bank	Axis Bank Ltd	Bank of Baroda	Canara Bank	City Union Bank Ltd
EQUITAS SMALL FINANCE BANK	Federal Bank	FINO Payments Bank	HDFC Bank	ICICI Bank
IDFC FIRST Bank	Indusind Bank	Karur Vysya Bank	Kotak Mahindra Bank	Nagapur Nagarik Sahakari Bank
PAYTM Payments Bank	Punjab and Maharashtra Co-op Bank	Punjab National Bank	Saraswat Co-operative Bank	South Indian Bank
State Bank of India	Syndicate Bank	Union Bank of India	Yes Bank Ltd

A person can also buy the FASTag from the automobile company from where he is going to buy his four wheeler and they will install the FASTag on their new vehicles.

Documents Required for the Application of FASTag

Whenever you are going to buy a FASTag account, you will require some documents along with their photostat copy. Here is the list of the documents you will need when buying a FASTag for your vehicle:

RC of the vehicle for which you are going to have FASTag.
The user will also require to submit a passport-size photograph of the vehicle owner.
You will need a document for KYC which is any one of these – driving license, adhar card, Pan Card, Voter Id, and Passport.

How FASTag Works?

Here are the steps where we will learn how does FASTag transaction work when it is initiated at a toll plaza through an RFID reader:

A vehicle will pass through FASTag lane where RFID device will capture FASTag details which includes ID of the tag, Class of the vehicle and TID which is sent to the bank for processing.
The bank will further initiate a request to NETC Mapper which will validate the tag details.
After the Tag ID is validated by NETC, the mapper will send details which are vehicle class, tag status, and VRN. IF the mapper is unable to locate Tag, it will return a response that a particular TAG ID is not registered.
Thus the bank will calculate the toll fare and a debit request is initiated towards NETC.
After that, The NETC will forward the request to the bank which has issued FASTag to debit from the FASTag account of the user.
Now the money will be deducted by the host and the user will receive an SMS alert. The host will also send the message to NETC.

This is how FASTag will deduct the money from your account and you can travel hassle free.

FASTag Blacklisted

If you pass through any toll plaza and your FASTag wallet is out of money, your FASTag wallet is usually blacklisted for 48 hours, if you use the FASTag lane for crossing the toll gate. Your FASTag account will only be reactivated with the intervention of NHAI helpdesk in case you are travelling. You can also call on NHAI customer helpline number which is 1033 for reactivating the card.

Usually when a person buys a FASTag Rs 200 is added as a security deposit which can be used during emergencies. If in case you have exhausted your main FASTag wallet account, the amount can be deducted from the security deposit. And again when you will recharge your wallet, firstly money will get added as a security deposit which you have used and the rest of the amount will get deposited in your main FASTag wallet.

How to Use FASTag?

Now we are aware of FASTag, we will see how the FASTag works when a vehicle enters toll plaza:

First of all, when your vehicle enters the FASTag lane, the RFID reader on the lane will auto-detect your FASTag and deduct the amount from your FASTag wallet.
You will get a confirmation receipt on your email and also an alert message on your phone linked with tag.
Once the money is deducted from your tag you will get a green signal and you can successfully pass through the plaza without any hassle.

FASTag Common Problems

Everything has its pros and cons. Pros are already explained and now we will see what are the difficulties one can face while using FASTag.

Sometimes when you will pass your vehicle through the FASTag lane, the RFID reader might not detect the FASTag of your vehicle. You might need to move your vehicle little backward and forward and you must also ensure that FASTag is correctly placed on your vehicle so that it’s easily detectable.

If your FASTag is still not detected then a man on the toll plaza will come with a handheld RFID reader to detect your tag. There are some disadvantages of these hand-held devices:

They are faulty at some times.
They need to be charged after 5-6 hours.

Some companies are deducting the FASTag charges if you are not using in the name of FASTag event. So don’t buy FASTag from such companies. As FASTag is a prepaid wallet you don’t need to link your bank account with FASTag.

How to change Fastag’s mobile number?No, we cannot change the Fastag mobile number. As the e-mail id and mobile number are registered at the time when the customer is making their Fastag for the first time. However, if the customer wants to change the vehicle registration number (VRN)then they can share their vehicle RC scans.
How to change a Fastag account from one bank to anotherIt is an easy process to change a FASTag account from one bank to another, you just need to follow the below mentioned steps:
1. If the customer’s Fastag is linked with the Paytm wallet, which is in turn connected with another bank, then he/she can change the bank account and recharge the wallet from the new bank account.
2. However, in case if the customer’s Fastag is linked with the Paytm bank account, then by changing the bank, he/she also needs to cancel the Paytm linked Fastag as well.
What to do with Fastag when selling a car?If you have sold/transfer your car, you are requested to inform your issuing source or bank and close the account as soon as possible.