[Vid6639]

Used fastag last week when travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai and back. Overall was a mixed bag. I traveled on a thursday so the traffic was lesser than weekends.

While Fastag works pretty much everywhere now between Mumbai and Bangalore except for Hubli bypass, the overall experience was a mixed bag.

At some tolls you get stuck behind trucks which take a while to move even with Fastag. They usually don't have enough balance or their tags are blacklisted. This means either they are let thru the escape lane or they need to pay cash. Faced this 3-4 times and net result was I took more time to clear than a car that used the cash lane. Forget trucks, near Kolhapur I saw tractors are now using Fastag!!

Couple of toll gates have broken the dedicated Fastag lanes and opted for hybrid i.e. all lanes accept fastag. So even with a tag you wait with the cash paying vehicles.

The fastag works way better in Maharashtra than Karnataka. Dunno why but the implementation is just better. In Karnataka many places the tag wouldn't read and the attender would ask me to steer closer to the scanner. Even when it did work, it would be delayed and sometimes you had to go really close to the boon barrier before it happened.

In comparison, the MH toll gates worked better. The boon would open from further away, the scanners would read easily and on a couple of occasions, I didn't even come to a standstill and the tag was read meaning I could drive through without stopping the car.

Overall fastag needs a lot of improvements. Now that new cars have it mandatory, the infrastructure is not upto the mark. Heavy vehicles should get a separate fastag lane no matter what. This is the biggest bottle neck. They almost always slow down the fastag lanes. Whatever delays I faced were only due to trucks ahead of me in the Fastag lane. If not for the trucks, I would have been very pleased with the Fastag experience.

[Lego28]

Thanks for the guide to procure Fast-tag. I read this guide and the procedure was effortless. The executive came to my office and collected the documents, and within a week handed me at the fast tag RFID at the same location.

The execution, however doesn't work much in India.
Whenever I travel late night/Early Morning, the fast tag lanes in NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan and U.P. (mostly) work nicely. There are guards or barriers which open the lane only after reading the Tag.
But during Day and peak Traffic, I have seen 90% of the same tolls leaving the fast tag lane open for all the vehicles.

Moreover, there was a flaw which I noticed. At Manesar Toll Plaza (Near Gurgaon) i was charged double, Twice. And i think these Goons are doing it intentionally.



I have raised a complaint in ICICI Fast Tag online portal and awaiting a response. The process is seamless and easy.



Hence,i request all the Fast Tag users to check their statement after every trip/ timely.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Thanks for your courtesy, may I ask how does this cashback work ? I ask because I have not received any since Sept. last year despite logging service requests. I receive a template response that NHAI/NPCI has not processed hence customer is not provided. Wonder if that is true, since I see posts of agreed cashback given to this very forum members.

The first cashback took me 3 months - following which i have been regularly getting monthly cashbacks. Keep following up with the Tag issues and do raise a ticket.

[mjumrani]

Originally Posted by abhjain

Hope you destroyed the Fastag? As per the process the issuer would like to posses the destroyed fastag or have an indemnity signed by the user before cancellation.

I have the tag with me. I never got any calls or mails regarding the closure, I had sent atleast 10 emails to which there is no reply. They have complicated something which should have been easy to buy and cancel, while procuring the tags except my DNA results they wanted everything.

[sunil_k_u]

Originally Posted by sunil_k_u

... Will use it during Christmas holidays and share my experience here.

Best Regards,
Sunil.

I put the FastTAG in to use this time while driving Bangalore-> Salem-> Coimbatore-> Palghat -> Aleppey route. It worked seamlessly, though some booths had used hand-held scanners.

In general, the experience was pleasant and could avoid queues & save some time at each toll booth.

Taking credit/ recharging FastTAG from PayTM account worked perfectly well too.

Thanks/ Sunil.

[famousshoes]

Confirmed today that the FASTag function is still unavailable on the Bandra- Worli Sea link, Mumbai. It has an ETC facility for which another tag is required . Wonder when these things will be set up properly and streamlined.

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by famousshoes

Confirmed today that the FASTag function is still unavailable on the Bandra- Worli Sea link, Mumbai. It has an ETC facility for which another tag is required . Wonder when these things will be set up properly and streamlined.

FasTag will not and can not work on Bandra - Worli SeaLink as it is a MMRDA project implemented by MSRDC whereas FasTag is a NHAI initiative for National Highways.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

FasTag will not and can not work on Bandra - Worli SeaLink as it is a MMRDA project implemented by MSRDC whereas FasTag is a NHAI initiative for National Highways.

I guess the reason why many of Mumbai members have this query is due to following -

• ETC tags were used by MMRDA tolls earlier too, so an assumption that a newly implemented solution (Fastag) will support earlier toll booths too.
  
• MSRDC maintained Mumbai - Pune Expressway has ETC lanes which support Fastag too, though NHAI doesn't have anything to do with this road.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I guess the reason why many of Mumbai members have this query is due to following -

• ETC tags were used by MMRDA tolls earlier too, so an assumption that a newly implemented solution (Fastag) will support earlier toll booths too.
• MSRDC maintained Mumbai - Pune Expressway has ETC lanes which support Fastag too, though NHAI doesn't have anything to do with this road.

Fasttag is a NHAI initiative. Hence it is mandatory for all NHAI operated toll booths to have Fasttag implemented. All other toll roads can implement fasttag if they want but there is no mandate. In this country, nobody makes an effort to implement something until or unless mandated.

I have an example from where i live. Gurgaon - Faridabad road is a toll road which is under the State Govt. They have ETC implemented but those ETC readers show FastTag stuck on my car as "Invalid ETC tag".

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

I have an example from where i live. Gurgaon - Faridabad road is a toll road which is under the State Govt. They have ETC implemented but those ETC readers show FastTag stuck on my car as "Invalid ETC tag".

Exactly what I meant in earlier post.

This is the same scenario faced by Mumbai Fastag users too, hence the confusion from their end.

[BenjiRoss]

Finally got her ball rolling via Paytm. I paid the rs. 500 this morning and now got a text with the link to register vehicle details.
Did that and got a pop-up saying request successful and hence a link to purchase fastag again!!
Now I'll wait for the fastag to get couriered.

[blorebuddy]

I had a double deduction happened in Jun2017 and ICICI Fastag is still working on it to verify and refund! I have given up after multiple follow ups as the answer is standard - "back end team is working on it, soon the refund will be credited"

Another issue I faced in the last week in crossing Krishnagiri Toll. It was a big queue in Fastag lane (as always in Krishnagiri toll) and I changed the mind after waiting for a while as it was not moving. I have taken the lane next to it(immediate left lane of fastag lane) and paid by cash and moved on. After an hour I got an SMS stating the Fastag got deducted in this same toll.

I am wondering how it can be. Any idea? Anyone faced such issue? I could not do anything about it as I was after Thoppur toll by the time SMS came.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by blorebuddy

Another issue I faced in the last week in crossing Krishnagiri Toll. It was a big queue in Fastag lane (as always in Krishnagiri toll) and I changed the mind after waiting for a while as it was not moving. I have taken the lane next to it(immediate left lane of fastag lane) and paid by cash and moved on. After an hour I got an SMS stating the Fastag got deducted in this same toll.

I am wondering how it can be. Any idea? Anyone faced such issue? I could not do anything about it as I was after Thoppur toll by the time SMS came.

Yes, this can happen, at times it scans even if you take a different lane. In this kind of situation, it is always better not to pay and ask for manual scanner. Also, some of the toll booths have multiple lanes with Fastag enabled.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Also, some of the toll booths have multiple lanes with Fastag enabled.

These days even if I enter a lane which is not FASTag, I always show the tag and only when I hear their classic answer 'tagged vehicles must come from that lane' I pay cash when they decline of having a scanner.

As I recollect, my first drive with tag was when we went to Pollachi and at 0300 none was present to pull the barricade at NBTL and I passed next lane and paid in cash only to receive a text message that 20 INR was deducted

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

As I recollect, my first drive with tag was when we went to Pollachi and at 0300 none was present to pull the barricade at NBTL and I passed next lane and paid in cash only to receive a text message that 20 INR was deducted

Yes, I remember that.

And mine got scanned when I parked in a hotel parking next to the toll . Later I raised a ticket and got the refund.