FASTags mandatory for all vehicles from 1 December
22 Nov 2019
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The government has made it mandatory for all private vehicles – passenger and commercial – to use FASTags at toll plazas for payment of toll. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that all private and commercial vehicles must have FASTags from 1 December 2019.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will provide FASTags free of cost until 1 December in order to encourage vehicle owners to move towards FAStags. It will also be available free of cost by NHAI at RTO offices and transport hubs. The security deposit of Rs150 will be borne by NHAI. Gadkari said this would approximately cost the government Rs150-200 crore.
FASTags are a new electronic toll collection method introduced by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), to eliminate long queues at toll plazasand to ensure toll collection.
The tag has to be stuck on the windscreen of the vehicle and the driver can make payments without having to stop at the toll booths. As the vehicle passes through the booth, the scanner automatically scans the tag and deducts the amount of money from the owner’s bank account or prepaid wallet.
FASTags employ Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which enables making payments directly from your savings account/prepaid linked to the tag.
Each vehicle needs to have separate tags and the tags are non-transferable.
There are 22 certified banks which issue FASTags. You can purchase these tags online by visiting the bank's website or the nearest branch.
Here is the list of banks that issue the tags:
Name of the certified banks Customer care number
Axis Bank 1800-419-8585
ICICI Bank 1800-2100-104
IDFC Bank 1800-266-9970
State Bank of India 1800-11-0018
HDFC Bank 1800-120-1243
Karur Vysya Bank 1800-102-1916
EQUITAS Small Finance Bank 1800-419-1996
PayTM Payments Bank Ltd 1800-102-6480
Kotak Mahindra Bank 1800-419-6606
Syndicate Bank 1800-425-0585
Federal Bank 1800-266-9520
South Indian Bank 1800-425-1809
Punjab National Bank 080-67295310
Punjab & Maharashtra Co-op Bank 1800-223-993
Saraswat Bank 1800-266-9545
Fino Payments Bank 1860-266-3466
City Union Bank 1800-2587200
Bank of Baroda 1800-1034568
IndusInd Bank 1860-5005004
Yes Bank 1800-1200
Union Bank 1800-222244
Nagpur Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd 1800-2667183
Online shopping sites like Amazon are also selling these tags. Android smartphone users can download the MYFASTag app from the Google Play Store/Apple Store.
There is also an option to recharge prepaid wallets if a vehicle owner does not wish to link the tag to his/her bank account. Every time the money in the wallet gets used up, it can be recharged.
The tag that purchased online is based on the do-it-yourself concept where one may activate it by entering vehicle details in the 'MYFASTag' mobile app.
The NHAI prepaid wallet facility is also available in the app where one may load money directly instead of linking bank account with the tag.
For buying FASTags from bank branches one has to submit an application requesting for the FASTag, KYC documents and registration certificate of your vehicle.
For FASTag already linked to bank accounts, one has only to ensure there are necessary funds in the bank account. In case of prepaid wallet, one may recharge it in the mobile app or bank website through various modes of payments such as UPI/debit card/credit card/NEFT/Net Banking/IMPS.
