Key Points:
- Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and MSME’s Nitin Gadkari announced that the Electronic Toll Collection Device FASTag will be made compulsory for all the vehicles in the country from January 1, 2021.
- The newly enforced rule will make it easier for the commuters as they will not need to stop at toll plazas for cash payments, and that it also saves time and fuel.
On Thursday, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and MSME’s Nitin Gadkari announced that the Electronic Toll Collection Device FASTag will be made compulsory for all the vehicles in the country from January 1, 2021.
While addressing a virtual function, Nitin Gadkari said that the FASTag compulsion will be enforced from January 1, 2021 and he also mentioned that the newly enforced rule will make it easier for the commuters as they will not need to stop at toll plazas for cash payments, and that it also saves time and fuel.
The transport ministry, in the month of November had announced that FASTags will be made compulsory for all four wheelers from 2021 as a part of the government’s attempt to drive faster adoption of the electronic toll collection. Earlier, the registration for all the cars bought after December 2017 in India was made mandatory by the Government.
The statement also said, “It has also been 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 shall be captured. This shall be applicable w.e.f. 1 April 2021.”
Official Press Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1683339
What are FASTags?
- FASTags, which facilitate electronic payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016 and four banks together issued nearly a lakh of them.
- FASTag is an electronic toll collection system in India, operated by the National Highway Authority of India.
- It employs Radio Frequency Identification technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it or directly toll owner.
- By 2017, their numbers went up to seven lakh and more than 34 lakh FASTags were issued in 2018.
“This would be a major step for ensuring that the payment of fees be 100% at toll plazas through the electronic means only and that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the fee plazas. ..The steps for ensuring the availablity of FASTag at multiple channels are being made through physical locations and also through online mechanism so that the citizens are able to have them affixed at their vehicles,” an official statement from the road transport and highways ministry said.
