Toll plazas to go cashless from January 1

Vehicles without tag which enter the FASTag lane, will have to pay double charge, says NHAI official

RAJAHMUNDRY, ANDRHA PRADESH, 18/07/2015: Traffic jams seen at toll gate between Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry as pilgrims head in large numbers for the Maha Pushkaram at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh on July 18, 2015. Photo: K.R. Deepak

Come January 1, the sight of seeing long lines of vehicles, waiting for payment of cash at toll plazas on the National Highways will soon be a thing of the past.

The lone cash payment lanes, which are being continued at the toll plazas, despite the introduction of FASTag long ago, will be withdrawn after December 31, 2020.

“About 20% of motorists are yet to take FASTag. This is because the owners of local private vehicles assume they do not need to take FASTag as they do not need to go out of the city. But, now they have to invariably take the tag as there will be no longer be ‘cash lanes’ at the toll plazas,” NHAI (Visakhapatnam) Project Director P. Siva Sankar told The Hindu on Friday.

“Vehicles, without the tag, which enter the FASTag lane, will have to pay double charge. On the contrary, buying a tag will be beneficial as the amount in the tag will not lapse till it used unlike mobile prepaid cards, which lapse after a certain period of time.

The tag can be obtained online by logging on to the website www.fastag.org or by visiting https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fastaguser or at toll plazas or the POS (Point of Sale) counters of banks,” he says.

“The toll plaza at Aganampudi in the city has the maximum movement of vehicles at about 60,000, followed by about 40,000 each at Nathavalasa and Madapam toll gates. FASTag has been enabled at all the eight toll plazas Anakapalle, Aganampudi, Nathavalasa, Chilakapalem, Madapam, Lakshmipuram (Andhra-Odisha border), apart from the primary and secondary toll plazas on the Port Connectivity Road which falls under the jurisdiction of the NHAI, Visakhapatnam,” Mr. Siva Sankar says.

The prepaid device (FASTag), which employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, would be affixed to the windscreen of the vehicle from inside. It enables the customer to make the payment directly from the FASTag account, while the vehicle is in motion. While passing a toll gate on national highway, the customer would receive a text message on mobile phones specifying the amount deducted.

The registration of the FASTag chip has to be done at the POS at any toll plaza. After getting the tag, motorists can download ‘My Fastag app’ on their cellphones and link their bank accounts with the vehicle registration numbers to get alerts on the toll amounts deducted.