BENGALURU: For those who are yet to procure FASTags, which facilitate electronic mode of payment at toll booths, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Saturday extended the deadline for mandatory adoption of this feature by a month. It was supposed to come into effect from December 15, which has now been extended to January 15, 2020. This follows a request from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to the Ministry, calling for its extension by 45 days, citing shortage of tags due to high demand.
The Ministry had initially fixed a deadline of December 1, then extended it up to December 15 and it has now been deferred by another month. As per the previous directive from the Transport Ministry, those not using FASTag will have to pay double the toll fee if they pass through these lanes or can wait for long and pay the normal fee through the single lane where cash payments would be accepted.
The NHAI letter sent on December 11 speaks of a supply deficit in the market, mainly on account of the chips used in the tag which facilitate the Radio Frequency Identification Technology. “The chip is imported and it has a lead time of six weeks and the average total production capacity of all manufacturers is in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 per day. “There is supply deficit in the market and all citizens have not been able to obtain FASTag,” it said.
The Ministry’s decision to waive off the basic cost of the tag within the mandatory period to goad public to opt for it, has resulted in exponential demand across the country, with 1.96 lakh purchase on a single day (December 6), it explained. The NHAI has written to the Ministry after two meetings held last week, one with tag manufacturers and another with issuing banks, it added.
An official said that upto 15,000 FASTags have been sold in the Bengaluru alone. “Until January 15, we will have 75 per cent implementation at toll gates in and around Bengaluru, we will have 50 per cent implementation in each toll gate from Sunday.” He said Sadahalli toll plaza had 18 gates. “We are looking at having four lanes catering to FASTag users and four for cash payment.
“The same would be done at all toll plazas in and around Bengaluru like Electronic City, Nelamangala and Hoskote, due to heavy influx,” he added.In the case of many other toll plazas in the state, NHAI would reserve two out of eight gates for cash payment, the official said.