5 Things To Know About New Fastag Rules, And How It’ll Affect You

Government made FASTags mandatory a few years ago. This was done in order to reduce traffic snarls and make toll payments easy. The government has now come up with a set of new regulations which would come into effect from August 1. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rolled out fresh guidelines for FASTag payments at the toll booths across the nation. What are these new regulations? Let’s find out.

Double Toll If You Don’t Stick Fastag On Windshield

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently issued a guideline in which it clearly instructs car owners to stick the FASTag of their vehicle on the front windshield. There has been a tendency among many car owners to not stick the FASTag on the windshield. They often use the same FASTag for multiple vehicles.

Owners are not legally allowed to do it. So in order to resolve this issue, NHAI has come forward with these guidelines. If a car owner fails to follow these instructions, then toll plaza staff will charge a double amount from the car owner.

Get KYC Done, Else Face Blacklisting!

If you already have the FASTag stuck on the windshield, there are more things for you to do. Companies offering FASTag services have time until October 31, 2024, to complete KYC for all the FASTags issued by them. This is applicable for all customers who are using FASTags that are anywhere between 3 to 5 years old. This means customers who are using FASTags should complete the KYC process to ensure that they can continue to use the services uninterrupted.

Fastags Older Than 5 Years Have To be Changed

Other than this, NPCI also asks car owners using FASTags older than 5 years to get them canceled and replace them with new ones. If you don’t apply for a new FASTag, then your vehicle would get blacklisted and older Fastag would stop working.

New Car Owners, This One’s For You

Other than this, if you are a new car owner, then there is another thing you should do. You should update the registration number within 90 days of purchasing the vehicle. FASTag providing companies are also required to verify and update their databases. This way they can ensure that every detail is accurate and up to date.

Earlier FASTags were linked to mobile numbers. However, from now on, the FASTag will be linked with the registration number and the chassis number. This is also being done to ensure that people do not use the same FASTags on multiple vehicles. The NPCI has also asked the providers to upload clear photos of the vehicle’s front and side, making it easier to identify the car linked to the FASTag.

Other than this, each FASTag must be connected to a mobile number, ensuring that communication and updates are seamless. There are talks about implementing a more convenient way to collect tolls at the booth. A few months ago, Nitin Gadkari had spoken about his plans to introduce GPS technology in order to collect tolls.

This new toll collection system is named Global Navigation Satellite System or GNSS. The GNSS system will track the vehicle’s location in real-time and charge the user based on the distance they have traveled on the toll road.