Govt suspends FASTag fee from Feb 15 to 29

The ministry of road transport and highways has decided to waive off the FASTag cost of INR 100 for 15 days from February 15 to February 29.  This step by the government is seen to promote electronic toll collection, after making FASTag’s mandatory last year.

The electronically-readable tags are attached to a vehicle’s windscreen, enableing automatic toll deductions from a linked bank account without any manual intervention. The FASTag is scanned automatically at tolls booths across 527 national highways. From December 15, 2019, the government made FASTag chips at every toll booth on all national highways mandatory.

The FASTag can be bought from all national highway fee plazas, regional transport offices, common service centres, transport hubs and petrol pumps. The ministry has clarified that customers can go to such locations and get their free FASTag. However, the fee security deposit and minimum balance applicable for the FASTag wallet continues to be the same as before.

It has been said by road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari that the Indian government has noted that its revenue has increased to INR 87 Cr per day from INR 68 Cr for FASTags.