NEW DELHI: The FASTag Annual Pass is witnessing widespread adoption across India, with data indicating strong usage across regions. According to the ministry of road transport and highway (MoRTH), Chandigarh has emerged as the leading region in terms of usage, accounting for 14% of total transactions nationwide, followed closely by Tamil Nadu at 12.3% and Delhi at 11.5%.
Further analysis of location-wise data points to particularly strong adoption among National Highway commuters in the Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR). Bijwasan Fee Plaza has recorded the highest usage, with nearly 57% of total cars bearing the tag crossing the toll gate.
Mundaka in Delhi and Jhinjholi in Sonipat follow closely, with around 53% of non-commercial vehicle crossings at each location using the pass.
On Friday, the ministry said that within six months of its launch, the annual pass has achieved a significant milestone by crossing 50 lakh users with over 26.55 crore transactions recorded since August 15.
“The milestone reflects the growing acceptance of the Annual Pass among private vehicle owners for providing a seamless and economical travel option on the National Highways and Expressways…highlighting the increasing preference of FASTag Annual Pass among National Highway users, around 28% of total car transactions recorded on the National Highway network are now being carried out through the FASTag Annual Pass,” said officials.
Applicable on about 1,150 fee plazas on National Highways and National Expressways, the Annual Pass eliminates the need to frequently recharge FASTag through one-time fee payment of `3,000 for one year validity or 200 toll plaza crossings. The annual pass gets activated within two hours on the existing FASTag linked to the vehicle after payment of one-time fee payment through Rajmargyatra App or NHAI website.
The growing uptake of the FASTag Annual Pass reinforces its effectiveness in promoting seamless and economical travel on National Highways across the country, said officials.
At toll plazas, cash payment would often result in delays. Long queues, tender issues, and disputes were common. To fix this, MoRTH introduced double toll charges arrangement for non-FASTag payments. However, the ministry brought some relief for them based on their mode of payment.
With a penetration rate of around 98 percent and over eight crore users, FASTag has revolutionized the Electronic Toll Collection system in the country. In another transformative step towards hassle-free highway travel, the ministry in August introduced annual FASTag pass for non-commercial private vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans.
At present, user fee is collected for approximately 45,000 km of NHs and Expressways. There are about 1,200 toll plazas, which are maintained by either the NHAI or concessionaires. Since February 2021, FASTag has been made mandatory for the payment of user fees at NH toll plazas.