What is a FASTag and how it makes life easier on the road

The Government of India (GOI) has made FASTag mandatory. FASTag, or electronic toll payments, are primarily aimed at reducing vehicular traffic at the toll plazas.

Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, FASTag helps in making toll payments through a prepaid account linked to it. The FASTag is affixed on the windscreen of your vehicle. When you drive past a toll plaza, it automatically reads the FASTag and deducts payment from the bank account linked to it.

What are the benefits of getting a FASTag?

FASTag is not just a convenient technology for toll payment, but comes with a number of benefits for the commuters.

Here are a few of them:

1. Validity: If you are tired of the state border tolls before every trip, FASTag might help in taking the

tension away from you. It comes with a validity of 5 years. You need to recharge/ top up the FASTag as per your requirement.

2. Save time: It also saves you the pain of long queues. As it gets automatically deducted, you don’t have to worry about the long and tiring wait for your turn.

3. Save fuel: Waiting in queues leads to burning of fuel, which, in turn, is also harmful to the environment. FASTag takes care of that.

4. Cashless payments: You don’t have to bother about keeping change. The payments directly get deducted from the bank account.

5. Track your expenditure: Another benefit is that you don’t have to keep the receipts carefully. The information about your spend will be sent directly through an SMS alert for every time you pass a FASTag toll booth and a deduction takes place.

6. Online recharge: It is completely cashless. You can recharge your FASTag anytime, anywhere online.

7. Cashback: The most interesting of all the benefits is saving some extra money. For the current financial year FY19-20, all payments made using FASTags will get a cashback of 2.5%.