The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Sunday announced that all lanes at toll plazas will become FASTag lanes, with effect from midnight on February 15. The announcement follows the Ministry’s announcement late last year, mandating fitment on all cars and commercial vehicles from January 1, 2021.
- All tolls collected on national highways to be via FASTag
- Vehicles without FASTags or non-functioning FASTags to pay double fare
- FASTags mandatory for all four-wheelers and for commercial vehicles with four or more wheels
MoRTH said that the move was aimed at reducing wait times at toll plazas, along with promoting digital means of payments. Previously, National Highway toll plazas offered dedicated lanes for cash payment of tolls alongside FASTag lanes. The latest notification from MoRTH now means that these lanes will no longer accept cash payments.
FASTags are currently mandatory on all vehicles falling in Category ‘M’ and ‘N’, which includes all four-wheelers and commercial vehicles with four or more wheels used for ferrying goods or people, respectively.
Penalties for non-working/no FASTags
As per the National Highway FEE Rules 2008, vehicles fitted with non-functional FASTags or not fitted with a FASTag will be required to pay double the fare at National Highway toll booths, should they enter a FASTag lane.
Where can you acquire FASTags?
FASTags come mandatorily fitted on all new cars since December 2017. Vehicle owners can additionally acquire a FASTag through banks or a wallet operator such as PayTM. Owners can apply online or physically visit a branch. The tags are also available through point-of-sales (POS) locations at select toll plazas across the country.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
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