What exactly is FASTag? How does it function?

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, has said that FASTags would be required for all cars beginning on December 1, 2019. Nowadays, FASTag is in use at more than 500 toll booths on National and State Highways. Under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) initiative, the system is interoperable and the same FASTag may be used at any toll booths. Every month, new toll plazas are installed.

What is FASTag?

A gadget called FASTag uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to enable toll payments to be made directly from moving vehicles. A client can pay tolls directly from the account that is linked to FASTag by attaching a FASTag (RFID Tag) to their vehicle’s windscreen.

In addition to benefits like fuel and time savings since the client does not have to stop at the toll plaza, FASTag offers the convenience of cashless payment.

FASTag is likewise vehicle-specific and cannot be moved to another vehicle after being attached to one. Any of the NETC Member Banks offers FASTag for sale. A FASTag must be recharged or topped up according to the customer’s use if it is connected to a prepaid account. The FASTag is banned at the toll plaza if the consumer fails to keep an appropriate balance. If a client enters a toll plaza in this situation without first recharging, he will not be able to use NETC services and will instead need to pay the toll in cash. The tag has a five-year lifespan, and after purchase, you simply need to recharge or top it out as necessary.

The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) initiative was created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to satisfy the market’s needs for electronic tolling in India. It provides a cross-country, interoperable toll payment system with clearing house services for settlement and dispute resolution. In terms of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system, interoperability refers to a shared set of procedures, administrative guidelines, and technological requirements that let a customer to use their FASTag as a form of payment at any toll plaza, regardless of who owns the toll plaza.
On all toll payments made via FASTag, NHAI is currently offering a reward of 2.5%. This cashback offer is available through March 2020. Monthly, the tag-linked account will be credited with the cash back amount.

What steps are involved in a FASTag transaction?

The acquiring system receives the transaction received from the toll plaza. These transactions are verified by the acquiring system before being sent to the NETC Switch. These transactions are forwarded by NPCI to the relevant Issuer Bank, which then debits the account of the tag holder. The transaction’s step-by-step procedure is as follows:

1. The FASTag information, including Tag ID, TID, Vehicle class, and others, are recorded by the toll plaza system each time a vehicle goes through the ETC lane and sent to the acquiring bank for processing.
2. To verify the tag details, the acquiring bank asks the NETC Mapper to provide back a response.
3. Once the Tag ID is validated, NETC Mapper responds with details like Vehicle class, VRN, Tag Status etc. If the Tag ID is absent in NETC Mapper, it will respond that the Tag ID is not registered.
4. Acquirer host determines the appropriate toll charge following the successful validation of Tag ID by NETC Mapper, and then initiates a debit request to NETC system.
5. To debit the customer’s account, NETC System will transfer the debit request to the appropriate issuing bank.
6. Issuer host will debit the associated tag holder account and notify the tag holder through SMS. The response message must be sent to the NETC system by the Issuer host. The transaction is deemed accepted if the answer is not provided within the specified TAT.
7. NETC system will notify the response to acquirer host.
8. The acquiring host will inform the appropriate toll plaza system.

How to buy FASTags?

23 NETC accredited banks, including a few minor finance banks, payments banks, and cooperative banks, issue FASTags. FAStags are also available at a few RTOs, gas stations, and toll plazas, as well as online at Amazon.

To find the nearest POS station, you can also call the Issuing Bank Customer Service lines. Please visit the website of the relevant issuer bank.

List of NETC Member Banks issuing FASTags:

How much do FASTags cost?

FASTag is issued by issuing banks, and member institutions determine fees in accordance with their own policies. The real tag issuance fees, however, are set at 100 rupees.

• These are the fees charged by HDFC Bank: Rs 100 is required to issue tags. Refundable Security Deposit: Rs 200 Rs. 100 will be the first recharge amount in the wallet when it is created.
• The fees for ICICI Bank are as follows: Tag issuance costs are Rs 99.12; refundable security deposits are Rs 200. Rs 200 is the initial recharge amount in the wallet when it is created.

The charges are different for every bank and can be accessed on the member banks’ website.

What kinds of documentation are required to apply for a FASTag?

You need to submit the following documents along with the application for FASTag:

• Registration Certificate (RC) of the vehicle
• Passport size photograph of the vehicle owner
• KYC documents as per the category of the vehicle owner

The representative of the issuing bank will provide you an application form, which you must fill out and submit. Address & ID evidence just has to be a current driver’s licence.