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 flows without any jams in the streets. If you are a frequent traveller, you might not face any problems on these roads and can have a smooth journey, but still, some things are outside your control, and you would usually hate them during your journeys. One of such problems travellers face is long queues at toll plazas across the highway, which would save time waiting for your turn. However, 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 learn about what FASTag is, the benefits of FASTag, how to get FASTag for your vehicles, and when your FASTag is blocked.
What is FASTag?
With the help of the National Payments Corporation of India, the government 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, 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 the acquirer is.
- FASTag is affixed on the front windscreen of the four-wheeler.
- If you own more than one four-wheeler, you must have a separate FASTag 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 that asks you to link your bank account. Instead, you should always use prepaid service for the FASTag.
What are the benefits of using FASTag?
The FASTag has many advantages for the 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 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 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 balances 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 travelling time from one place to another as it will reduce human intervention, saving your precious time.
Cashback Offers
To promote FASTag, the government provides very good cashback offers for users. Currently, they provide 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 provide the facility to create a FASTag account. Moreover, some payment wallets, such as paytm, are also issuing the FASTag for four-wheelers. You can also buy FASTag at toll plazas, where they have a Point of sale (POS) that will help you get One.
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 which he is going to buy his four-wheeler, and they will install it on their new vehicles.
Documents Required for the Application of FASTag
Whenever you buy a FASTag account, you will require some documents and a photocopy of their account. Here is the list of the documents you will need when purchasing a FASTag for your vehicle:
- RC of the vehicle for which you are going to have FASTag.
- The user must also submit a passport-size photograph of the vehicle owner.
- You will need a document for KYC, which can be any of these: driving license, adhar card, PAN card, Voter ID, or Passport.
How FASTag Works?
Here are the steps where we will learn how does FASTag transaction works when it is initiated at toll plaza through RFID reader:
- A vehicle will pass through the FASTag lane, where the RFID device will capture FASTag details, including the tag’s ID, the car’s class, and the 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 NETC validates the Tag ID, the mapper will send details: vehicle class, tag status, and VRN. If the mapper cannot locate the Tag, it will return a response that the 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 that has issued FASTag to debit from the user’s FASTag account.
- 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 blocked 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 the NHAI helpdesk if you travel. To reactivate your card, you can also call the NHAI customer helpline number, which is 1033.
Usually, when a person buys a FASTag, Rs 200 is added as a security deposit, which can be used during emergencies. The amount can be deducted from the security deposit if you have exhausted your main FASTag wallet account. Again, when you recharge your wallet, money will be added as a security deposit, which you have used, and the rest of the amount will be 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 vehicles enters toll plaza:
- First, when your vehicle enters the FASTag lane, the RFID reader on the road will auto-detect your FASTag and deduct the amount from your FASTag wallet.
- You will receive a confirmation receipt in your email and `an alert message on your phone linked with a tag.
- Once the money is deducted from your tag, you will get a green signal and 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 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 at 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. The e-mail ID and mobile number are registered when the customer makes 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 another
It 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.
