FASTag must to cross toll plazas from Jan 1

Those travelling in four-wheelers from January 1 cannot cross a toll plaza without FASTags with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways making the tag mandatory towards complete adoption of electronic toll collection.

The Transport Ministry has issued a notification making FASTag mandatory for four-wheelers including old vehicles i.e., M and N category of motor vehicles sold before December 1, 2017. The M and N category of vehicles refer to those having at least four wheels and used for the carriage of passengers and power-driven vehicles used for the carriage of goods.

FASTag is a reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets one pass through the toll plaza without having to stop for cash transaction. This is being implemented since December 1, 2017 to cut down the waiting time at toll plazas and make travelling on highways a faster affair.

As per CMVR Rules, the FASTag had been made mandatory for registration of new four wheeled vehicles and is being supplied by the vehicle manufacturer or their dealers. It has been mandated that the renewal of fitness certificate will be done only after the fitment of FASTag for the transport vehicles.

“For National Permit vehicles, the fitment of FASTag has been mandated since October 1, 2019. It has been



further mandated that a valid FASTag is mandatory while getting a new third party insurance through an amendment in FORM 51 (certificate of insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID would be captured. This would be applicable from April 1, 2021,” Ministry said in notification.

FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted. The tag employs radio-frequency identification technology and is affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen after the tag account is active. There would be no waiting time at the toll plazas and it would also save fuel.

According to Transport Ministry, this notification would be a major step for ensuring that the payment of fees was 100 per cent at toll plazas through electronic means only and that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the fee plazas.

Steps for ensuring the availability of FASTag at multiple channels are being taken through physical locations and also through online mechanism so that the citizens can have them affixed at their vehicles within the next two months.

Telangana has 19 toll plazas including the ones at Kadthal, Korlaphadu, Manoharabad, Muthojipet, Panthangi, Pippalwada, Pullur, Raikal, Rolmamda and Shakhapur and all these have dedicated FASTag lanes.