MUMBAI:
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said that the transaction count of FASTag under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme has crossed 31 million in October 2019.
FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag fixed on the windscreen of a vehicle which enables automatic deduction of toll charges from the prepaid or savings account linked to it while the vehicle is in motion. A user receives an SMS alerts on his registered mobile number for all the transactions done in his tag account.
The vehicle with FASTag doesn’t need to stop at toll plazas for cash transactions, saving fuel and time. In October 2019, the transaction count of FASTag stood at 31.46 million with transaction value Rs. 702.86 crore, compared to a transaction count of 29.01 million and a transaction value of Rs. 658.94 crore in September 2019.
Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI said, “FASTag has been one of our primary focus and in less than 2 years it has become truly interoperable. Today, we have 23 member banks that issue FASTag and 10 member banks that acquire FASTag transactions (support the acceptance at toll plazas). Today, FASTag is live on 528+ toll plazas across the country. FASTag is also venturing into the state highways as well as city toll plazas enabling digital toll payment facility to local city residents as well.”
From December 1, 2017, all new cars come with pre-activated FASTags. A FASTag can also be purchased at select toll plazas, select bank branches, retail PoS locations / Issuer Bank Website/ My FASTag app and online through e-commerce platforms. A customer can start using the FASTag by affixing it on the windscreen of the vehicle.
Whenever he travels through a Toll Plaza, the toll fare will get automatically deducted from the wallet linked to the FASTag. It can be topped-up online through Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/RTGS/ UPI or Net Banking.
FASTag is soon going to be available at petrol pumps and later these might be used as a medium for buying petrol and paying parking fees. FASTag is mandatory from 1st December 2019 at all National Highway Toll Plazas.
