Despite being a frequent highway user, I am a late adopter or FASTag. You can put that down to multiple negative reviews about difficulties in procurement of the tags, loading payment, double charging at booths etc... and of course, sheer laziness on my part. After constantly reading posters at every booth that say FAStag will be mandatory post Dec 2019, I decided to get going and order a tag. I've got an HDFC tag which I bought off Amazon of all places! Procurement and tagging of the tag with car was smooth and no issues there. I have stuck the tag on the windshield just behind the IRVM slightly towards the left as per instructions received with the tag.
First journey was towards Hyderabad and the tag was not detected at Devanahally fastag exclusive lane where the boom barrier is placed much before the regular gates. I was asked to move to regular lane where the operator had to come out and scan with his hand-held device. He struggled a bit and then flagged me off. I did not get any SMS and later realised that the tag wasn’t detected and he just let me go. At the next toll gate also the tag did not get detected and the operator had to come out with a handheld scanner who also struggled to get a proper detection. He then covered the factory fitted RFID sticker by hand which is right above my FASTag and seemed to get a reading. I also got an SMS this time. Return journey also same story. The tag never got detected automatically and the operators always seemed to struggle to get a proper reading. On more than a few occasions the operators would give up and just let me go without demanding cash payment.
Next journey was on Tumkur highway (up to Hiriyur only). At Parle G toll, no detection and was let go just like that. At Nelamangala toll I did not get into the dedicated lane as it was too long. At the regular gate my tag did not get detected and I just paid cash and moved on. At Karjeevanahally toll where the FASTag lane has a detection point much before the regular booths my tag did not get detected and I was asked to move to regular lane. Behind me other cars went through smoothly. But then the tag got detected this time at the other lane without the operator having to come out and manually and scan my tag.
I then came back and searched this thread as to what could be going wrong.
Two possibilities
- Factory fitted RFID tag which is right above FASTag is causing interference.
- BMW glass isn’t allowing proper communication with the tag.
There are a couple of Volvo car owners here who have reported that their tags have a lot of difficulty in being detected. I remember heat resistant factory fitted glass as one of the features on my X3.
So, first thing I decided was to block the factory fitted RFID. Tearing it up and removing it just like that did not seem like a good idea, so I decided to block it. Ordered a cheap RFID blocking sleeve like
this. Cut it up and pasted it over the factory RFID sticker from the outside. It looks crude right now, but I had to eliminate this reason.
As luck would have it, I had a repeat of similar journeys like the last ones.
- Devanahally toll (towards Hyderabad): No automatic detection at the FASTag lane, nor at regular lane. But the lady operator was able to get a reading easily with handheld device. Return journey also same story.
Next journey on Tumkur road.
- Missed FASTag lane at Parle G point. Regular lane did not have fastag scanners, paid cash.
- At Nelamangala toll, tag got detected automatically at one of the regular lanes.
- Karjeevanahally – Tag did not get detected at pre entry gate point like last time. Moved to regular lane and tag got detected automatically.
- Then all the way towards Belgaum the tag got detected at most lanes automatically. Only at a couple of booths the operator had to scan manually. And the detection was quick there too.
So, the blocking of the factory RFID tag has surely helped for better detection, but still there are difficulties in detection at a few toll booths. The detection isn’t as smooth and seamless as I see it is with some other cars, trucks and buses.
Only positive I can see is that I don’t need to reach out for my wallet and my car is spared of toll ticket clutter. I don’t think I saved much time since most times I had to move to regular lanes. The good thing is that most lanes seem to be fastag enabled these days.
Now the question that is haunting me is:
Is the BMW glass hampering detection in anyway? Would it advisable to order a replacement tag and get it laminated in some way and keep it in the small storage space next to the steering wheel. Maybe I can flash it manually by hand and hope to get a clean detection and quick exit that way. Is it permitted at all to have the tag not pasted on the windshield?
Sticker placement Blocking factory RFID sticker. Crude but effective