NHAI waives FASTag Rs 100 cost for 15 days; here's all you need to know

The government has announced that it will offer FASTags free of charge till February end. The Ministry of Road Transport has said that the NHAI has decided to waive off the Rs 100 FASTag cost for the 15-day period between February 15 and February 29.  Vehicles without FASTags will have to pay double the normal toll rate all over India. Thus, it is important that you get a FASTag card if you don't have one already. Here are 10 things you need to know about FASTag:

• FASTag has been mandatory since December 15,2019 on all national highways across the country.

• FASTag is an electronic toll collection system operated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

• The FASTag is absolutely simple to use and a reloadable tag fixed on the windscreen of a vehicle.

• FASTag allows automatic deduction of toll charges at all national highway toll plazas. It uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) for automatic deduction of toll fees.

• FASTag is available at all national highway fee plazas, regional transport offices (RTOs), common service centres, transport hubs and petrol pumps. To track the FASTag point of sale (POS) nearby, you can also install FASTag app.

• This RFID tag is linked to a prepaid or savings account.FASTag can also be recharged via e-wallets such as Google Pay and any BHIM-UPI enabled e-wallet.

• You don't have to stop to pay toll once you have FASTag installed. In case, a customer has any doubts about FASTag, they can contact the helpline 1033.

• The central government has rolled out the FASTag scheme across almost 527 national highways all over India.

• The central government aims to collect around Rs 100 worth of toll revenue via FASTag system. According to road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari, daily revenue collections from toll plazas rose from Rs 68 crore to Rs 87 crore.

• As of December 2019, above 1 crore FASTags were issued.

Also read: Relief! FASTag to be mandatory from today but 25% toll lanes will accept cash till January 15

Also read: Now recharge your FASTag account through BHIM UPI: NPCI