The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways on Sunday announced that all lanes in the fee plazas on National Highways will be declared as “FASTag lane of the fee plaza” from midnight of February 15, 16 of 2021.
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari made it clear that the deadline for the implementation of FASTag would not be extended further, and the vehicle owners should immediately adopt the e-payment facility. The Central Government had last extended the FASTag deadline for the vehicles from January 1, 2021, to February 15, 2021
“Therefore, as per NH Fee Rules 2008, any vehicle not fitted with FASTag or vehicle without valid, functional FASTag entering into the FASTag lane of the fee plaza shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category,” the Ministry said in a statement.
In the statement issued by MoRTH, the Ministry clarified that this has been done to further promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption, and provide for a seamless passage through the fee plazas.
The Ministry had mandated fitment of FASTag in M&N categories of motor vehicles with effect from 1 January 2021.
Category ‘M’ stands for a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying passengers whereas Category ‘N’ stands for a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying goods, which may also carry persons in addition to goods.
FASTags, which facilitate electronic payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016. Making the tags compulsory would also help in ensuring that vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas, as the fee payment would be done electronically.
Replying to a query on FASTags at the Nagpur airport, Gadkari said the government had extended FASTag registration date limit two-three times before, and now it would not be extended further. Now, everybody should immediately buy FASTag.
FASTags can be purchased online from the authorized banks or even through retailers such as Amazon. Buyers can also opt to visit any points of sale of one of the 23 authorized banks and road transport offices to get the tag. Users are advised to purchase the tags from the banks they already have accounts in. The national highway authority also sells IHCML tags which are bank-neutral.
Earlier last week, to give another relief to highway commuters, the NHAI decided to do away with the requirement of maintaining a minimum amount in FASTag wallet to ensure seamless movement at electronic toll plazas.
It was directed that users will now be allowed to pass through the toll plaza, if the FASTag account/ wallet balance is non-negative. After crossing the toll plaza, if the account balance becomes negative, the bank can recover the amount from the security deposit, which should be replenished at the time of the next recharge by the user.
“In order to increase the FASTag penetration to ensure seamless movement of traffic and to reduce avoidable delays at the toll plazas, NHAI has decided to remove the mandatory threshold amount for the FASTag account / wallet, which was paid by the user in addition to the security deposit for the passenger segment (Car/Jeep/Van),” NHAI said in a statement.
According to the latest statement by the Transport Ministry, there are more that 2.54 crore FASTag users in the country and it contributes 80% of the total toll collection. Daily toll collection through FASTag has crossed ?89 crore mark.
The FASTag registration has gone up to 90% on some routes and only 10 per cent people are left. FASTag is also available on toll nakas and people should purchase and use it for seamless traffic, he said.
Monday, 15 February 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
