FASTags mandatory from Jan 2021

  • From January, FASTag, India’s electronic toll collection chip for national highways, is going to be mandatory for all vehicles. 
  • Already, over 80 per cent of all toll collected across national highways is through FASTag. 

WHAT IS FASTAG?

  • It is a sticker or a tag usually pasted on the windscreen of the car. 
  • The system was initially set up as a pilot project in 2014 on the stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
  • The system was implemented on the Delhi - Mumbai arm of the Quadrilateral on 4 November 2014.
  • On 15 December 2019, FASTag became mandatory throughout India.
  • The number of FASTag users has grown 400 per cent in last one year.
FUNCTIONING
  • The device uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to communicate with scanner installed at toll plazas. 
  • Once the car crosses the toll plaza the requisite toll amount is automatically deducted from a bank account or a prepaid walled linked to the FASTag. 
  • The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through its subsidiary Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) sells and operates FASTag. 
  • If one enters a FASTag lane without having a FASTag by mistake, double the toll amount is to be paid. 
  • Even if one's FASTag is not functional due to some damage to the RFID or it does not have enough balance, one is liable to pay double the toll amount.



SOURCE: IE

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