The ordeal of motorists waiting in long queues at toll plazas on the National Highways will come to an end as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made FASTag (electronic toll collection system) mandatory for all vehicles from December 1.
The motorists who have registered for ‘FASTag’ can drive through the toll plazas on the National Highways without stopping, saving time and fuel. However, the vehicles without ‘FASTag’ will be charged double the toll fee.
Now, a single dedicated lane is in use at toll plazas for the vehicles equipped with ‘FASTag’ while the other lanes are for the ‘cash payment mode’. Come December 1, all the lanes at toll plazas would be Fastag-enabled, while a single lane will be made available for cash payments.
How it works
Giving details about the ‘FASTag’, NHAI Project Director (Visakhapatnam) P. Siva Sankar said that the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices had been provided to the toll plazas, which would scan the chip on the ‘FASTag’ sticker affixed to the windshield of a vehicle approaching a toll plaza and the toll fee would be debited from the owner’s bank account automatically.
“The vehicle owners need to provide the vehicle Registration Certificates and KYC (Know Your Client) details to the bank concerned. The details will be uploaded to the system. They need to pay ₹500, of which ₹100 is the cost of the tag and the rest will go towards the security deposit and top-up. The tag can be used at all toll plazas on all national highways across the country,” Mr. P. Siva Sankar explained.
All the eight toll plazas – Anakapalle, Aganampudi, Nathavalasa, Chilakapalem, Madapam, Lakshmipuram (Odisha border) apart from the primary and secondary toll plazas on the Port Connectivity Road – falling under jurisdiction of the NHAI, Visakhapatnam, are already ‘FASTag’-enabled. The tags can be purchased at the POS (Point of Sale) set at the toll plazas by the authorised banks, he said.
Cellphone app
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.
“There is around 40 % compliance to the ‘FASTag’ so far and our plan is to double it by November 30. The tag will be issued free of cost till November 30. Vehicles, without RFID stickers entering the ‘FASTag’ lanes would be charged double the toll fee,” he added.
