[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

So what do you do in such cases? How much time does it takes for resolution?
Maybe someday law of averages will make things even.

Blacklisted tag becomes Active instantly if you update the balance. You get a text message also confirming the same. I am referring to ICICI.

Originally Posted by NPV

Did any message flash on the display outside the toll booth saying tag is blacklisted ?

None at all. I am aware of this but the booth I am referring to is Bankapura where the set up itself is shabby and maximum times they use a hand held scanner.

If tag is really blacklisted, the portal will also show the status as "Blacklisted", so you can quickly log in to the site and check. Of course, you will lose valuable time on the drive if you did it right there

I didn't bother thinking I will check later as I was driving in a convoy that morning.

However, what confirmed that things were fine is when I soon received a text message that 55 INR was deducted .

[R2D2]

I will be installing the FT tomorrow. As per instructions received with the FT, it needs to be installed behind the RVM. Thing is, my car has what Maruti calls a 'ceramic strip' behind the mirror AND a tint that runs right across the upper 3" of the glass from side to side.

Depending on model, Maruti recommends it be installed to the left of the RVM on the passenger seat side about 10-15 cm below the trim line (top black stripe on the glass where adhesives are pasted) and ~5 cm from the edge of the RVM.

Any suggestions?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Any suggestions?

Quoting my reply few months before regarding the same query and I hope that helps:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The reasons for the placement of the Tag near the IRVM on right hand side:

- It is easier for the Toll attendant to manually scan it in case the automated scanner is not functioning/absent by just stretching his hand out of the window

- It is also easier for the automated scanner to detect these tags because the pillar on which this is hosted is mostly on your (driver's) right hand side

- It is easier for the man guarding the booth to spot your tag with that FASTag logo and hence allow you to pass into the dedicated lane meant for FASTag

- It is easier to fix the tag on the right hand side and leave the left side for a lot of other stickers, including the OEM RFID that comes in all cars post 2013

Hence, don't worry too much on placement as long as you walk outside your car and are able to spot the tag easily from a distance.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Any suggestions?

Would suggest experimenting a bit and not committing to particular place yet, so don't remove the adhesive backing sheet till you're done with some pilot drives
You can use cellophane tape for the time being and test it at some toll plazas (our highways have wonderfully unique and different layouts and styles of fastag lanes).

I'd done this for our WagonR and posted the experience here (FASTag: All you need to know about procuring & using it!), you can also see a picture of the tag on the car's windshield if you navigate to the linked post from there.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Quoting my reply few months before regarding the same query and I hope that helps:

Yep, those tips were helpful & very practical. Thanks Parag. Not sure how Maruti came up their installation guidelines and suggested installing it to the left of the RVM on the passenger side.

Originally Posted by NPV

Would suggest experimenting a bit and not committing to particular place yet, so don't remove the adhesive backing sheet till you're done with some pilot drives
You can use cellophane tape for the time being and test it at some toll plazas (our highways have wonderfully unique and different layouts and styles of fastag lanes).

Thanks NPV.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Yep, those tips were helpful & very practical. Thanks Parag. Not sure how Maruti came up their installation guidelines and suggested installing it to the left of the RVM on the passenger side.

Don't worry too much about the location as long as its on RHS or IRVM when sitting inside.

I can provide you with use cases of 8 cars that recently went on a Monsoon drive, crossing 17 odd toll booths one way, all equipped with FASTag and none of them had to reverse or face issues.

In all these placement theories, we happily forget one simple fact : All cars are of different height, Trucks are even taller than cars and their windscreen is exactly perpendicular to road surface!

Take for instance the Skoda Laura we had in our Convoy. The Tag on this car was placed exactly next to Driver side A-Pillar and half way from Top (Or equidistant from the roof and Dash) which is not even the suggested location and still it worked like charm .

[antardaksh]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Don't worry too much about the location as long as its on RHS or IRVM when sitting inside.

Hi,

As mentioned by several folks it will work even if its out of sight, however we have to stick this in visible location so that the security guard manning Fastag lane is able to see this tag from a distance.

I believe RFID used in FAStag is Gen2 which can be read from up to 12m/37ft. Hence placement of this tag becomes irrelevant other than the reason mentioned above.

I have pasted Fastag on the passenger side however it worked flawlessly on our recent trip.





Here is a video of Fastag being scanned by handheld device.

https://youtu.be/3ZdU4atvdfE

Regards.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by antardaksh

Hi,

As mentioned by several folks it will work even if its out of sight, however we have to stick this in visible location so that the security guard manning Fastag lane is able to see this tag from a distance.

Which I referred to above 2 posts back:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

- It is easier for the man guarding the booth to spot your tag with that FASTag logo and hence allow you to pass into the dedicated lane meant for FASTag

[sridhu]

Adding my two bits - it works just fine (better even?) If you stick it on what you call the ceramic strip, or the frit.

In my Crysta & the jazz, that is where it is and I have had no issues either with man or machine.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by antardaksh

I believe RFID used in FAStag is Gen2 which can be read from up to 12m/37ft. Hence placement of this tag becomes irrelevant other than the reason mentioned above.

This being the case I wonder what could be the reason for the scanners at some tolls failing to read/detect tags ? Recently faced the problem in a friend's car at the Devanahalli toll and had to finally take the adjacent lane. I remember at this toll, the scanner was placed high on a pole, so possibly it works fine with taller vehicles like trucks but fails with cars ?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

This being the case I wonder what could be the reason for the scanners at some tolls failing to read/detect tags ?

Consistent implementation across which is missing and nothing else. Use of same scanners, at the same height and at the same angle - This has never been the case. I have seen scanners as low as the height of a truck while few places have them almost touching the roof of the booth.

Recently faced the problem in a friend's car at the Devanahalli toll and had to finally take the adjacent lane.

Even I have faced problem with KIAL toll like many others. But then, one can easily knock this as one off case and not due to the placement of the FASTag. If the placement is the issue, then I expect things to fail at almost all the booths with FASTag.

I remember at this toll, the scanner was placed high on a pole, so possibly it works fine with taller vehicles like trucks but fails with cars ?

I am sure all of us have seen trucks reversing more than cars and buses on the FASTag lane.

How co-incidental but I had few months back reported how a KSRTC Airavatha reversed 10 times at a toll booth near Belgaum that wasted at least 10+ minutes of my time.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Apart from that KSRTC Club Class as well where one made me wait at Hattaragi for 10 minutes (yes) and he reversed at least 10 times in front of me.

I was expecting same issue with me after he passed but as soon as I was near the booth window the digital display read "Valid Tag" and I passed.

I can say here that the placement of the Tag in the bus would be wrong and mine was prefect because I could pass without issues?

Overall, as car owners, we need not break our head much in terms of placement of these tags and they work well (very well) as referred by few of them in this thread. Simply paste it so it is visible from outside and things will work without a fuss.

On why it fails to work sometimes ? Placement cant be the first reason to doubt. It certainly will be something else.

For instance, at Kirisave Toll booth on the Hassan highway managed by L&T, my ICICI FASTag always failed to detect till I reversed couple of times. One such drive the booth staff pointed me to the BETL Tag which I had then. I ignored his feedback but at BETL booth once, despite of balance in FASTag (and no balance in BETL tag), the barrier didn't open.

I removed the BETL Tag and things became fine with both of these booths from my subsequent drives.

[sudev]

Yesterday I had to travel to Jaipur and back from Delhi. At all toll's The FastTag worked while going and on return it worked and charged only half the toll automatically.

But surprisingly the toll at Manoharpur only had two lanes for FastTag. These lanes were crowded but the other gates were hardly having any traffic when I crossed but they did not have scanners.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by sudev

Yesterday I had to travel to Jaipur and back from Delhi. At all toll's The FastTag worked while going and on return it worked and charged only half the toll automatically..

Was this a same day trip? Or within 24 hrs? Fastag automatically deducts return / daily pass fare if you come back in the requisite time.

Also an update on Mumbai-Pune Eway:
Over the last 6 to and fro trips, only one time toll was deducted i.e. 138 instead of 138+92. At one instance no toll was deducted. Thats a saving of almost 1200 bucks!!

Going towards Mumbai all lanes have Fastag enabled, while going towards Pune only the Talegoan Plaza has all lanes Fastag enabled.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Consistent implementation across which is missing and nothing else.

Very true, no standards are followed across all the tolls and each one follow their own way. This is the reason that some tolls are flawless while some are lagging behind. And some still dependent on hand-held device.

I am sure all of us have seen trucks reversing more than cars and buses on the FASTag lane.

Yes, its the trucks which are struggling more when compared to the smaller vehicles. And I don't think this is going to improve anytime soon. I always feel bad for truckers who are forced to reverse umpteen times with huge load behind them.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Also an update on Mumbai-Pune Eway:
Over the last 6 to and fro trips, only one time toll was deducted i.e. 138 instead of 138+92. At one instance no toll was deducted. Thats a saving of almost 1200 bucks!!

Going towards Mumbai all lanes have Fastag enabled, while going towards Pune only the Talegoan Plaza has all lanes Fastag enabled.

Don't be surprised if they deduct at a later point :-).

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by NPV

This being the case I wonder what could be the reason for the scanners at some tolls failing to read/detect tags ?...

Originally Posted by paragsachania

...One such drive the booth staff pointed me to the BETL Tag which I had then. ...I removed the BETL Tag and things became fine with both of these booths from my subsequent drives.

The FASTag RFID tag is a passive tag, and the scanner has to energise it, to authenticate and conduct the transaction. If there are multiple RFID tags in the vicinity, all of them would get energised and then the microseconds of delay between each other would decide which tag would actually communicate with the scanner. Active RFID tags such as BETL tags and some parking tags would be always powered and when they get a signal from a scanner, they become fully operational and try to communicate. The design of the tag antenna also is enough to cause interference, even though the active tag is not powered up. This has got nothing to do with the scanner positioning or the tag positioning. I would suspect the factory-fitted RFID tag also has a role in this melee, unless it uses a different protocol/frequency band.