[bhandary]

Good news for members residing in Hassan. FASTag mela is on today and sunday. Find below the ad in todays Times of India. Hope they have similar mela in Bangalore also.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

.

Does Mumbai - Pune Expressway accept Fastag? I was thinking it is managed by MSRDC and hence may not accept Fastag.

Fastag has been active on Mumbai--Pune Expressway since almost 2 years now. The lane is marked as ETC lane though and not exactly Fastag ( it's the same across all tolls on NH4 in Maharashtra).

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bhandary

Good news for members residing in Hassan.

So I drove to Hassan & back to Bangalore on yesterday morning, and returned empty handed. Not that I needed a strong reason for a Sunday morning drive .

I reached the venue with another BHPian Addyhemmige who is from Hassan. The event was the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Lorry Owners Association of Hassan District and it was a 2 day event. A lot of stalls could be seen at the event held at a resort on Holenarasipura Road - Castrol Lubricants, JK Tires etc and lying unattended there was a Banner of FASTag by IDFC Bank and no human being around it.

So we asked the Castrol guy if he was aware as to whether Tags were given on Saturday and he was clueless. We ask the JK Tire stall guy and he too was clueless.

Then we walk to reception area and Addy knew the Manager of this resort quite well since he hails from Hassan and he said he was aware that Tags were given on Saturday but was also sure that the stock may have got exhausted too.

It was 10:00 and I called up the FASTag Toll Free for IDFC Bank and speak to a Customer care representative to at least get some contact number of anyone representing this here at the event but he was clueless too.

Gave up and started back for Bangalore and now I wanted to check how "Equipped" were the Shantigrama and NBTL Toll Plazas to sell FASTags as these 2 booth were listed as the POS Locations under ICICI FASTag website.

At Shantigrama toll, I asked the toll booth staff and he says "Yes Sir, Tags are given and available" - So I pull over after the booth, cross to the other side to access the Booth office and when I enquire inside, I am told that they NEVER distributed FASTags at this booth at all. Not even in the past despite of their booth listed as part of POS locations. I come back and continue my journey.

At NBTL toll, Nelamangala, I asked the toll booth Staff and he sayd "Yes Sir, Tags are available at the Bank" and when I ask if their office was selling then, he was again clueless.

So overall, it was a flop show on yesterday at 3 locations.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

So I drove to Hassan & back to Bangalore on yesterday morning, and returned empty handed. Not that I needed a strong reason for a Sunday morning drive

Please let me know if you get one anywhere. I filled up the ICICI form and no idea what is to be done next. Planning some highway drive atleast once a month from now, if the tag can save sometime, why not get one ASAP

[anandtheleo]

Had got my Fastag before the demonetization had started, somewhere in September I think.

Things were really smooth in all the tolls before November 8th and I used to breeze through all the tolls during my weekend runs between Bangalore-Chennai. Things have gone south since the tolls were restarted, too much confusions among motorists, the toll operators who were hitherto allowing only tagged vehicles in the lane are now letting everyone in it and also the lanes are being arbitrarily changed numbers and lead to massive confusions and even though i absolutely hate lane-jumpers, i am forced to be one now

One thing i noticed is the cash que in tolls move much faster now and this is because the Fastag lanes always has people arguing and trucks with blacklisted tags and insufficient balance (these guys have to back-out of the que making all others to back up too).

Yesterday when coming back to Bangalore i was in two minds to tear the sticker out and pay money and move on.

[bejoy]

Faced one 'downside' of having the tag. Was at Attibelle ETC lane, there were some 4 vehicles ahead of me. There was some VIP movement and they blocked all the lanes for some 10 minutes. Vehicles are really piled up by now. Once the VIP and entourage passes, they let all the vehicles go - free for all!
Only saving grace was that the toll is only ₹25.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

For yesterday's trip, I received the messages same day.

So for the 29th trip, I never got the SMS. For the one on 2nd, I got it the next day. I think things are sorted now.

[smnrock]

Day by day FASTag experience becoming very poor :(. All the days in this week so far took at least 3 minutes to cross Attibele tollplaza(towards TN side) and today was worst of all(7 minutes). Trucks with blacklisted tag or insufficient balance causing these delays. On top this, toll guys are fighting with the truck driver in the fastag lane itself without bothering the long queue waiting behind, Utter nonsense!

Current FASTag setup with just one lane operation will never going to successful in INDIA!!!

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by smnrock

Day by day FASTag experience becoming very poor :(. All the days in this week so far took at least 3 minutes to cross Attibele tollplaza(towards TN side) and today was worst of all(7 minutes). Trucks with blacklisted tag or insufficient balance causing these delays. On top this, toll guys are fighting with the truck driver in the fastag lane itself without bothering the long queue waiting behind, Utter nonsense!

Current FASTag setup with just one lane operation will never going to successful in INDIA!!!

I faced a similar issue at Thoppur toll last week. Fast tag lane was crowded with trucks(with Fastag) and the traffic was not moving at all. So, I took the normal lane and paid the toll in cash.

Its time to increase the number of Fastag lane to make the pass smooth. Otherwise it's not going to make any sense holding a Fastag.

[itwasntme]

Sad to hear this sudden deterioration in the FASTag experience. The massive take-up of these tags had caught the concessionaires unawares and the users themselves are not very educated either.

In such cases, better to steer well away from the FASTag lane (to avoid getting debited!) and pay cash.

[smnrock]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

So, I took the normal lane and paid the toll in cash.

Unfortunately i've to use FASTag lane as it is return journey :(. Morning usually attibele toll is very crowded towards bangalore side and FASTag lane is easy pass through due to non-functional auto boom barrier(or purposely kept aside).

[ravib]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I faced a similar issue at Thoppur toll last week. Fast tag lane was crowded with trucks(with Fastag) and the traffic was not moving at all. So, I took the normal lane and paid the toll in cash.

Its time to increase the number of Fastag lane to make the pass smooth. Otherwise it's not going to make any sense holding a Fastag.

+1 completely agree. Not just in Thoppur, i have seen this is in almost all tolls. More specifically in Chennasamudram and Sriperumbudur tolls. The worst part is, truck drivers are entering FASTag lanes in some tolls which doesn't have automatic barrier and simply pass through it, although the digital display lists as Non Tag vehicle, INvalid tag vehicle or insufficient balance etc. I guess there seems to be a nexus between truck drivers and toll plazas because there is no paper receipt and no accountability to track back.

-Ravi

[paragsachania]

FASTag availability in Bangalore as of 12-Jan-2017:

Status: Not Available
ETA: Another 15 days at least

I had visited BETL office on Monday and Imdad was not on his seat. I then asked the lady seated to issue RFID for BETL and she said stocks were still unavailable.

Today I called Imdad who expressed his inability and that the tags will take at least 15 more days and they have stopped accepting new application forms as well. He says there is absolutely no communication from the Bank (ICICI In this case) regarding the Tags.

So those who are hoping that the issue will get sorted soon, It's bad luck.

Originally Posted by shajufx

Please let me know if you get one anywhere. I filled up the ICICI form and no idea what is to be done next. Planning some highway drive atleast once a month from now, if the tag can save sometime, why not get one ASAP

[sagarpadaki]

Looks like the availability of the tags has taken a huge hit post demonetization due to high demand for the tags. I applied and got the tag in August 2016 and the whole process was done within a week with an ICICI representative doing all the work for me. Things have changed quite a lot!

[XUVwanderer]

I have a different tale with my FastTag. It works in few of the toll plazas and does not in others. Two days back when I was coming back from KIA, it worked like a charm. Lights turned green as I passed through the FastTag lane. But it has never worked on Hasan highway. Every time I go, the attendant would ask me to move my vehicle back and forth a few times in vain. Finally, will have to pay in cash and move forward when I hear people behind me getting irritated. When it works, I get SMS only after a week.

Tried few times calling ICICI bank customer care and tell them the issue I face but nothing has resolved. Will give a try to get a new one from SBI before I give up hope.

[sdp1975]

Can you guys see the tickets/complaints that you opened on the FASTag website last year ?

All the tickets I had raised last year have disappeared from their website - including one that was open and unresolved.