FASTag mandatory for all vehicles from January 1, 2021: How To Buy FASTag Online

New Delhi, Dec 28: FASTags will be mandatory for vehicles from January 1, 2021, Union minister Nitin Gakdari said.

FASTags, which facilitate electronic payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016. Making the tags compulsory would also help in ensuring that vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas as fee payment would be done electronically.

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari has announced that FASTag is being made mandatory for all vehicles in the country from the new year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement.

Addressing a virtual function on Thursday, he also said that FASTag will be useful for commuters as they will not have to stop at toll plazas for cash payments. Besides, it will also help save time and fuel, he added.

FASTag was launched in 2016 and four banks together issued nearly a lakh of them. By 2017, their numbers went up to seven lakh and more than 34 lakh FASTags were issued in 2018.

You can buy FASTags from branches or online services of banks including SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Bank of Baroda, Axis, City Union Bank. The FASTag will also be issued at the NHAI's points of sale at all toll plazas, PayTM, e-commerce websites such as Amazon, and also the Road Transport Authority (RTA) offices. FASTag will be available free of charge for 15 days. Road users can visit any authorised point-of-sale location with a valid registration certificate (RC) of the vehicle and get an NHAI FASTag free of cost. After buying it, you need to activate it by entering details related to you and your vehicle in MY FASTag mobile app.

In November this year, the ministry issued a notification also making FASTag mandatory from January 1, 2021 for old vehicles or that were sold before December 1, 2017.

As per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since December 1, 2017, FASTag had been made mandatory for registration of new four-wheelers.

It was also mandated that the renewal of fitness certificate of a transport vehicle will be done only after the vehicle concerned has a FASTag.

For National Permit vehicles, the fitment of FASTag was mandated since October 1, 2019.

A valid FASTag would be made compulsory for getting a new third party insurance. This would come into force from April 1, 2021.

The ministry said that steps for ensuring availablity of FASTag through multiple channels are being taken. They would be available at physical locations as well as online,

The National Toll Collection (NETC) programme has been implemented on a pan-India basis in order to remove bottlenecks and ensure seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee as per the notified rates using passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

Over 2.20 crore FASTag have been issued so far.

"The toll collection through FASTag first time crossed Rs 80 crore per day on December 24, 2020, with record 50 lakh FASTag transactions per day, a historical landmark," NHAI said in a statement.
With FASTag being mandatory for vehicles from January 1, 2021, the NHAI has made all necessary arrangements to provide seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas, it said.

Adoption of FASTag has helped highway users save time and fuel at the toll plazas, NHAI said.
It added that the digital transaction has got a push following the recent amendment in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

FASTag is easily available at over 30,000 points of sale (PoS) across the country and mandatorily available at NHAI toll plazas, it said.

It is also available online through Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. The FASTag programme has partnered with 27 issuer banks and has included several options to simplify its recharge facility such as Bharat Bill Payment System, UPI and Paytm, as well as My FASTag mobile app.

In addition, cash recharge facility is also being provided at PoS at toll plazas for convenience of users.
FASTag uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, which provides users a smooth crossover at toll plazas without halting. The payment is made digitally through the FASTag linked to the bank wallet.

NHAI said that as social distancing has become the new norm, commuters are increasingly looking at FASTag as a toll payment option since it is contactless.