VISAKHAPATNAM: Come December 1, there will be no waiting at the toll plazas on National Highway 16 as electronic toll collection will be made mandatory for all vehicles. To encourage digital transactions, the Centre has introduced FASTag system.
A series of steps have been taken up by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in Vizag region to motivate people to go for hassle-free mode of payment.
Speaking to TNIE, NHAI Project Director P Shiva Sankar said on Saturday an early bird incentive of waiver of Rs 100 service charge was also being offered to those who get FASTag before December 1.
He said there will be only one lane for cash transactions and rest of the lanes will be for FASTag vehicles, he said. If any non-FASTag vehicle jumps into FASTag lane, they will be charged double the toll gate fee.
He said all toll plazas in the region comprising Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Ganjam districts are ready for a total switchover. The toll gates will be equipped with radio frequency identification device (RIFD) to scan the FASTag sticker on the vehicle.
The RIFD will read details of vehicle and facilitates automatic deduction of toll fare from the vehicle owner’s account as they are linked to FASTag.
Sankar said there are seven toll plazas at Aganampudi, Sheelanagar, Natavalasa, Chilakapalem, Madapam, Lakshmipuram and Bellapadu (Itchapuram) in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. He said in the preliminary survey conducted across the country for usage of FASTags from November 1 to 15, Aganampudi toll plaza stood first.
Sankar said there is a tie up with State Bank of India (SBI) and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Banks and to issue FASTags and also with Pay Through Mobile (Paytm) to transfer amount to chip.
He said the vehicle owners should have to register. There is facility for monthly passes. Even exempted category of vehicles should have FASTag, he said. Registration was being done at the toll plazas for which special counters have been set up.
Claiming that 30 per cent to 40 per cent of vehicles have FASTag stickers, he said they were planning to cover at least 70 per cent to 80 per cent before December 1. He said FASTag system was introduced in 2014 and it gained pace in 2017.
All Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses and most private buses already have FASTag stickers, he said.
Their focus is to bring cars, jeeps, vans and other personal vehicles, which do not have the sticker, into the FASTag’s ambit.
FASTag sticker
FASTag is a RFID passive tag used for making toll payments directly from the customers linked prepaid or savings or current account. It is affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen and enables the customer to drive through toll plazas sans paying ftoll.
The fare is deducted from the customer’s linked account. FASTag is vehicle-specific; once the sticker is affixed to a vehicle, it cannot be transferred to another one.
FASTag can be purchased from any of the NETC member banks.