FASTag to be mandatory from Dec 1
Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, November 23
FASTag will become mandatory for all vehicles, private and commercial, at all the toll plazas from December 1.
According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), owners of vehicles which are not fitted with FASTag will be charged double the toll fee if they use FASTag lanes at toll plazas from December 1. Moreover, one FASTag can be used with a single vehicle, and commuters will have to buy two separate FASTags for the two vehicles.
The National Electronic Toll Collection (FASTag) programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and is aimed at removing bottlenecks and to ensuring seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee. FASTag is a prepaid rechargeable tag for toll collection that allows automatic payment deduction, eliminating the need to stop at plazas. As soon as the vehicle crosses the toll plaza, the toll gets deducted from a bank account/prepaid wallet linked to the FASTag, affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen. An activated FASTtag works on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Moreover, It does not have any expiry date. If the vehicle plies back to the same toll plaza within 24 hours, no extra money is charged.
Vipin Mangla, GM-cum-project director of the NHAI, Bathinda, said: “We have been creating awareness regarding FASTag for the last two months. It is even available on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Paytm.” He said they had also apprised private bus operators and government bus depots of the technology. As a precautionary measure, 10 police personals would be deployed at toll booths to check any dispute with truck and bus drivers regarding the electronic payment, he said.
