FASTag (an electronic toll collection system) in India

FASTag is a sticker or a tag usually pasted on the windscreen of the car. The device uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to communicate with scanner installed at toll plazas.

Once the car crosses the toll plaza the requisite toll amount is automatically deducted from a bank account or a prepaid walled linked to the FASTag.

The payment method is a part of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) collects the payments.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through its subsidiary Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) sells and operates FASTag.

FASTag taken from one bank cannot be used with the account of another bank.

NHAI also sells bank-neutral FASTags issued by the IHMCL online which are not linked to any bank and the user is free to choose his mode of payment to be linked to the FASTag account.

As per NHAI, FASTag has unlimited validity.

The system was initially set up as a pilot project in 2014 on the stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

The decision to make FASTag mandatory had been taken by the government in accordance with the Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) Rules 2017.