How has FASTag Made Toll Collection Much Easier, Faster and Environmentally Friendly?

FASTag is an electronic toll collection system that uses the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the bank account or prepaid account linked to it. This reduces human intervention and makes toll payment as well as collection easier and faster. On 16^th February 2021, The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway made it mandatory for all vehicles to have a FASTag. Let’s understand how FASTags have enabled hassle-free and instant toll collection.

How does FASTag help in easier and faster toll collection?

FASTag comes in the form of stickers with an RFID tag that are pasted on the windscreen of the vehicle. An RFID tag reader is fixed at the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) lane of the toll plaza. As the vehicle passes through the ETC lane, the RFID tag reader captures the FASTag details such as the FASTag ID, vehicle class, etc., and sends it for processing to the issuing agency.
The issuing agency is the toll plaza’s banking partner that processes the payment request. The bank then sends a request to the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) Mapper to verify the tag details.
The NETC Mapper responds with details like tag status, vehicle class, registration details, etc. If the FASTag is not registered in the NETC Mapper, it responds as the Tag ID is not registered.
For valid FASTags, the banking partner calculates the necessary toll fare and initiates a payment request to NETC system.
NETC System initiates a debit request to the respective issuer bank.
Upon successful payment, the customer receives a confirmation for the toll payment through SMS.

The entire process is carried out within seconds, and hence it reduces vehicular congestion at the toll plaza, thereby reducing air-pollution too.

FASTags for environment-friendly toll collection

Due to manual toll collection, there were long queues and more traffic jams at the toll plazas, which resulted in an increase in fuel emissions. With the introduction of National Highway FASTags, this problem has been addressed up to a certain extent.

As per Vivek Chattopadhyay, Air Pollution Programme Manager at the Centre for Science and Environment, once FASTags are installed in all vehicles and toll plazas, it will be easier to pass through them, and this will result in lower fuel emissions that are harmful for the environment. Speaking to the news portal The Print, he further elaborated that when the engine of a vehicle is at the optimal speed (40 km/hour), it releases less fuel compared to a vehicle moving at an idle speed. Thus, FASTags are a great alternative as they environment-friendly too.

You can easily apply for a FASTag by visiting any Point of Sale (POS) location at the toll plaza. You will be required to submit the FASTag application form along with your KYC documents and the Registration Certificate (RC) of your vehicle. The process to obtain a FASTag is simple and hassle-free. So why wait? Get a FASTag and contribute your bit towards reducing air pollution, today.