Table of Contents
- What is FASTag?
- Things to know about FASTag
- What are the benefits of using FASTag?
- Cashless Payments
- Mobile Alerts through SMS
- FASTag Online Recharge
- Faster Moving on Highway
- Cashback Offers
- How to buy FASTags?
- Documents Required for the Application of FASTag
- How FASTag Works?
- List of Banks Providing FASTags Account
- FASTag Blacklisted
- How to Use FASTag?
- FASTag Common Problems
- How To Recharge Central Bank of India Fastag Through PhonePe App
- How to Recharge Central Bank of India Fastag Through Google Pay App
Indian roads and especially highways have become really good in the last few years. The infrastructure of the roads has been improved to a great extent which provides uninterrupted traffic flows without any jams on the roads. If you are a frequent traveler, you might not face any problems on these roads and can have a smooth journey, but still, there were some things which were not under our control and usually, you would hate during your journeys. One of such problems travelers face was 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 made mandatory for four-wheelers from December 2019. More than 600+ toll plazas across the country are equipped with FASTag. Let us get to know about what is FASTag, the benefits of FASTag, how to get FASTag for your vehicles, and when is your FASTag blacklisted.
What is FASTag?
The government of India with the help of the National Payments Corporation of India has developed the NETC program which refers to National Electronic Toll Collection. This program allows the collection of toll tax without any human intervention. This program is also known as FASTag which helps to reduce the rush at toll plazas across the. The FASTag is a device that uses RFID technology that is Radio Frequency Identification which will deduct the toll charges automatically when the vehicle will pass through the FASTag lane of the toll plaza. The FASTag sticker is applied on the front windscreen of the four wheelers and when they will pass through the toll, money will be auto-debited from the FASTag account linked with the vehicle.
Here are the steps on how to recharge FASTag with Google Pay:
- Open the Google Pay app on your phone
- Tap on the “New Payment” button.
- Select “Bill Payments”.
- Select “FASTag”.
- Select the bank that issued your FASTag.
- Enter your vehicle number.
- Enter the amount you want to recharge.
- Tap on “Pay”.
- Enter your UPI PIN and tap on “Pay” again.
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 which are necessary to know before you move your vehicle on highways:
- FASTag can be used at any toll plaza across the country irrespective of the fact that whosoever 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 will have to have a separate FASTag for both vehicles. You cannot use the same FASTag for multiple vehicles.
- Once you have purchased a FASTag for a vehicle, it will be valid for 5 years. You can recharge the FASTag as per the requirement after the initial buying of the FASTag.
- 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 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 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 traveling time from one place to another as it will reduce human intervention saving your precious time.
Cashback Offers
To 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 four-wheelers. You can also buy FASTag at toll plazas, where they have a Point of sale (POS) which will help in getting FASTag.
Here is the list of banks that are providing FASTag accounts:
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 the FASTag lane where the RFID device will capture FASTag details which include 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 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 traveling. 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 FASTag lane, RFID reader on the lane will auto-detect your FASTag and deduct the amount from your FASTag wallet.
- You will get a confirmation receipt in 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 a 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.