The Road Transport and Highways ministry announced that FASTag will become mandatory for all the vehicles in the country from December 1, 2019. These tags need to be affixed on the windscreen of the vehicles for fast and automatic toll collection at electronic toll collection gates. Vehicle owners can get FASTags at select branches of any one of the 23-registered banks where they have an account. The list of banks includes State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank and more.
The ‘Bank Neutral’ FASTags are also available at Point-of-Sales on select petrol pumps as well as online at Amazon, Paytm, and Airtel Thanks app. These tags can be linked to any bank account or recharged using other means. But first, these ‘Bank Neutral’ tags need to be activated using the ‘My FASTag’ app by entering vehicle details.
How to recharge the FASTag
Once the FASTag is activated, users will need to input the payment information. If they wish to link it to their bank account for the collection of toll directly from their savings or current account, they will not need to recharge the FASTag but maintain the amount in the linked bank account. However, there is also an option to use the NHAI Prepaid Wallet in the ‘My FASTag’ app.
The NHAI Prepaid Wallet is the same as any other money wallet. Users have the option to load the amount in this wallet using options like Debit Card, Credit Card, Net Banking, and UPI. There is also an option to select payment apps like Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, My Airtel and more at the payment screen. Select any mode of payment and add money to your FASTag account.
Users can also manage and recharge the FASTag using Paytm by following simple steps. Open Paytm> Go to More> Select ‘Toll & FASTag’ under ‘City Services’> Now you can buy, manage, and recharge FASTag. First users need to enter theirs.