Team-BHP - FASTag: All you need to know about procuring & using it!

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Originally Posted by ksameer1234

From my experience of using Fastag over past one year, there has been consistent improvement in tag acceptability and compliance by users.
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With such visible improvement in just a year, I won't be surprised if toll booth jams become exception than norm. Yes, there will be odd cases here and there of tag errors but experience makes me confident that we are in right direction.

Tag users are increasing; no two doubts on that. From my observations the folks who are yet to migrate to FasTag are infrequent highway travellers, the friendly neighbourhood machos and goons who still wants to retain the 'privilege' of given a free pass, and vehicles operated by 'professional drivers' (which includes mini trucks, pick up vans, mini vans etc.). The last category of 'professional drivers' I guess have the challenge of education and they may not comfortable in doing online topups etc. For them the easiest negotiable instrument is ready cash. But any body with a decent level of education and is a bit tech savvy have moved to FasTag. My sample size mainly comes from BETL (Bangalore). So just like how Google Pay, PayTM etc gained wider usage this too shall perhaps become smoother.

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This double cash is certainly not enforced in MH where I have seen normal fee in cash being collected in Fastag only lanes.

This at present seems to be more of a threat, than a legal provision. I don't think there is any official government notification which authorises twice the toll for non-FasTag users. I am willing to be corrected.

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Originally Posted by ksameer1234 (Post 4759866)

This double cash is certainly not enforced in MH where I have seen normal fee in cash being collected in Fastag only lanes.

Double cash was being enforced in some of TN's toll booths that I passed through early in February. In at least one case (I think Vijayamangalam) the tag-less vehicle in front of me that refused to pay double was forced to exit the toll lane and park in the space just beyond with booth staff and policemen keeping a watch (basically they cleared the toll lane while not letting the offending vehicle go).

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Originally Posted by sachinpk (Post 4759968)

I don't think there is any official government notification which authorises twice the toll for non-FasTag users. I am willing to be corrected.

Please find attached a gazette notification from 2014 that authorises double toll collection from non-Fastag vehicles in Fastag-only lanes.

Double Toll Notification.pdf

I had a good experience with ICICI Fastag. I have an account with ICICI. So, I clicked on the Fastag option in their mobile banking app (iMobile). It asked for my vehicle number and in the next step for confirmation. That’s it. I thought they would also ask to upload RC photo but I just got notified that my Fastag will be delivered in 8 days. This was on Monday, 24th Feb around 10 pm. I immediately got SMS that my Fastag customer ID and account number were activated.
Next day, I got another SMS saying that a particular tag serial number for my car has been assigned to my Fastag account. They might have dispatched it the same day because I received it today, just 3 days after applying for it. Tested the tag at Talapady toll plaza near Mangalore and it worked fine. Rs. 40 was deducted for the onward journey, which is the one-way toll, and only Rs. 20 was deducted for the return journey as the return toll is Rs. 60.
I had also received an SMS yesterday asking to update vehicle number and RC details by calling their customer care or via the web portal, but it looked like a generic message. I uploaded the photo of the RC only today, a couple of hours before the tag was delivered. But even before that, the status of my tag was ‘active’.

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Originally Posted by ksameer1234 (Post 4759866)

This wasn't the case last year.

The Fastag was made mandatory at the end of last year or early this year as I remember. So how can there be a comparison between this year and last year?

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Originally Posted by ksameer1234 (Post 4759866)

From my experience, these teething problems get resolved pretty fast.

I fail to understand the logic. There are only two queues here in these plazas. One for Fastag and the other for cash. If people are there whose tag isn't working, there are bound to be delays in the lane. In places where there are multiple fastag lanes, they have the luxury to direct the vehicles stuck to other fastag lanes. How will this "teething" problem get resolved any faster? From what myself and many other members posted in this thread, there are many such issues that are happening and the banks or NHAI are not able to resolve them.

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Originally Posted by binand (Post 4760035)

Please find attached a gazette notification from 2014 that authorises double toll collection from non-Fastag vehicles in Fastag-only lanes.

It high time they bring a notification for no toll for poorly maintained highways too. The road condition on the Chennai - Bangalore highway from Poonamallee upto Sriperumbudur was really poor a couple of years ago. Shameful to actually be called a highway. Not sure of the current condition though. The Madras High Court had to intervene to get the contractors to fix the road.

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Originally Posted by vinodvayyat (Post 4760231)

There are only two queues here in these plazas. One for Fastag and the other for cash.[...] How will this "teething" problem get resolved any faster?

If I recall correctly, you were talking of the Coimbatore L&T bypass. Specifically about this road, it is currently just a 15m wide road incongruent with the N-S Corridor roads on its two sides. Its widening is stuck in litigation (NHAI wants to freshly tender the widening project, L&T claims that widening it is their project as per the original agreement's terms). We can't generalise this road's unique situation.

If all legal issues were to be resolved, this bypass would probably become indistinguishable from the rest of the NH in the area. In fact it oughtn't even have any toll collection since the distance from Kaniyur plaza to Pampampallam plaza is ~55 km and as per rules, they can't have toll plazas closer than that.

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Originally Posted by longhorn (Post 4760343)

The Madras HC's interventions have been largely lip service. I have been taking this road for nearly 10 years now - nothing has really changed on the ground between Ranipet & Chennai. Traffic jams can start from before the junction with the Automotive Corridor and then onwards, it is often just like driving on Bangalore ORR. At various times I have heard of Madras HC asking NHAI to do many things - but nothing actually happens on the ground.

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Originally Posted by bhandary (Post 4713022)

Coming to the FASTag charges, during the application time I had noticed that Axis bank charged only Rs 200/- + GST. Since during the same time there was announcement that the tag issuing charges were waived till 30 Nov, I took that Axis Bank had also waived the issuance charge and the Rs 200/- was the security deposit. But after creating the FASTag account at Axis website after receiving the FASTag, I saw that the security deposit amount and Wallet balance were both Rs 0/-. This meant that Axis Bank has charged Rs 200/- as Tag issuing charges.

However, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) has mandated that FASTag issued by banks can charge maximum of Rs 100 for each tag. Now, is this not in violation of the NPCI mandate?

I have raised a ticket for the same through the Axis FASTag account and look forward to their response.

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Originally Posted by bhandary (Post 4725553)

Update: My service request raised on 15 Dec 2019 on the etc.axisbank site for the above issue was finally closed on 03 Jan 2020 (19 days) with the just the following remark:

"dear customer for this concern kindly mail us at our email id etc(.)management at axisbank(.) com along with case history details to further check"

Hence sent an email with all details to the above ID explaining the case. Lets see how long they now take to resolve this."

Finally on 26 Feb, ETC-AXIS replied to my email that I had sent to them on 05 Jan.

They had attached a screenshot of the wallet and I assume ETC is claiming that the Rs 200/- I had paid during opening an account with ETC-AXIS in Nov 2019 is reflecting in my account. In reality, the Rs 200/- amount in my FASTag wallet was loaded by me in the month of Jan 2020 to keep the account in active status. Also, in security deposit column the amount is still showing as Rs 0/-

Hence have again sent them an email with the screen shot stating the above. Lets see how long they will take this time to respond and whether the issue will get resolved this time.

Finally got a Fastag fitted on my car, but have still not made a trip using the same. Guess I will cross that bridge sooner or later while using the sea link. Drove to Navi Mumbai yesterday, and was surprised to find that Fastag has not been enabled on the Mulund Airoli toll. I thought that had been targeted for the middle of January. Ended up paying the cash toll after a brief argument with the toll collector. I do hope the MH government authorities move quickly to get Fastag enabled on all the Mumbai area toll booths.

Finally, had my firsthand experience with Paytm Fastag this Sunday traveling from KA to TN and back the same day (within 24 hours). The first toll was BETL (E-city), and as I approached the boom barrier, it didn't open and I was worried. The guy there also was curious and kept staring! Then, he asked me to move ahead closer, and when my car bonnet reached as close as possible to the boom barrier, it opened. Truly a great experience!clap: Thereafter, all tolls, including returning back, were a breeze with just 1-2 minutes to pass each toll. In one toll booth, I was asked to take back as the cab in front of me had no Fastag and was in a Fastag-only lane (so still a good amount of awareness needed among all drivers).

With respect to toll deductions, all alert messages came only after I had completed the entire trip (not sure if this was intentional to ascertain whether they were meant to be single-journey or multiple-journey charges). However, all deductions were accurate with multiple-journey charges applied and thankfully no disputes. Overall, happy with the experience, and hopefully, implementation would get better in the days to come.

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Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 4761330)

How to get a replacement tag from ICICI? EMail or customer care?

The existing tag was removed accidentally during interior cleaning:Frustrati

I hope the balance gets transferred onto the new tag

I called customer care and was informed that the it will take 10+ days for the replacement to be shipped.
A faster way is to visit the nearest toll booth and look for an ICICI agent. They won't tell you which toll booth will have their agents and what are their timings. Apparently even if I visit the one branch in Bangalore which deals with fastag, I won't be able to get a replacement. How stupid can one get.

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Originally Posted by Jaguar (Post 4761354)

I contacted customer care and they took the request for replacement tag.10 Days is OK for me since i do not have any trips planned now. Cost is 100 rupees and it will be deducted from the fastag balance.

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Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 4761423)

You have provision to generate a service request in the ICICI portal - I have checked. Please check it yourself. I got HDFC Fastag replacement in 2 days - I couldn't believe it. With respect to HDFC Fastag, better to get it replaced and move on with life instead of talking to those guys.