Driving with a blacklisted FASTag will now invite massive penalty. Here's what you should know

In a concentrated effort to ensure that vehicles with blacklisted FASTags or FASTags with inadequate balance do not hinder the smooth flow of traffic across toll collection points in the country, new rules have come into effect from Monday, February 17. The new FASTag guidelines have been issued by The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) which ensure that violators will have to pay heftier fines.

The implementation of FASTag-based toll-collection system was done primarily to ensure smooth flow of traffic on highways across India. The added benefit is convenience because it is a mode of digital payment as well as a more effective mechanism for toll collection. But while these objectives have met to a certain degree, there are still instances where several vehicles are unable to pass a toll gate due to either no FASTag, low balance or FASTag registered to a different vehicle than the one trying to cross the toll gate. These violations will now invite heftier penalties.

New FASTag rules implemented

According to the new FASTag rules, any vehicle with a FASTag that has been blacklisted for more than 60 minutes before reaching a toll gate will not be allowed passage in one go. Any FASTag which continues to be blacklisted for 10 minutes after it has been scanned will also see payments made through it rejected. According to the guidelines, if both of these conditions are found to be the case, the driver of the said vehicle will have to pay double the toll amount. He or she will have a 70-minute window to recharge FASTag before its linked vehicle reaches a FASTag-enabled toll booth.

There is a some leeway though. If a motorist completes a recharge of a blacklisted FASTag within 10 minutes of an attempted transaction, he or she is eligible for a refund of the penalty amount. For instance, if a toll amount is ₹100 but a vehicle pays ₹200 because of the penalty, there will be a refund of ₹100 if the above-mentioned condition is met.

Driving with FASTag: What you need to be aware of

The new guidelines basically outline that last-minute recharge won't help matters as far as avoiding double penalty is concerned. These also mean that the owner of a vehicle with a blacklisted FASTag will have to request for a refund if a recharge is done within 10 minutes of the tag being scanned. It is essential therefore to ensure that a FASTag always has more than enough amount in its kitty.

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