Government extends deadline for 100% collection of toll charges on National Highways till February 15

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has extended the deadline for 100 per cent collection of toll charges on the National Highway (NH) network through FASTag till February 15, 2021.

Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had announced to completely do away with cash transactions for paying toll charges from January 1, 2021.

Currently, the share of transactions by FASTag is hovering around 75 to 80 per cent. In a communication to NHAI, the ministry has said the highways authority can obtain the needed regulatory requirement from it for ensuring 100 per cent cashless fee collection from February 15, 2021.

In order to discourage cash transactions at toll plazas, all lanes barring one on each side have been made dedicated "FASTag lanes" and any vehicle entering these lanes without FASTag are liable to pay double the normal toll fee.

If any vehicle is found in the lane without the FASTag then the owner is liable to pay double the amount of normal toll charges. The government intends to do away with cash transaction at national highways and had made FASTag mandatory for all vehicles from January 2021.

Essentially an electronic toll collection method, FASTAg is an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag which is affixed on the windscreen of your vehicle. The tag, which is rechargeable in nature, is linked to a prepaid account/e-wallet from which the charges are automatically deducted at toll booths. This negates the need to stop at toll plazas to make the payment, thereby resulting in swifter movement of traffic.