Starting Monday midnight, vehicles without a valid FASTag would be charged double the toll fee, as all lanes on toll plazas across national highways in the country turn into FASTag lanes. The ministry of road transport and highways had mandated fitment of FASTag in M and N categories of motor vehicles—meant for carrying passengers and goods respectively—with effect from January 1 onwards.
“To further promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption, and provide a seamless passage through fee plazas, it has been decided that all the lanes in the fee plazas on National Highways shall be declared as ‘FASTag lane of the fee plaza’ with effect from midnight of 15th/16th February, 2021,” the ministry said in the statement.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had also on Sunday said the deadline for implementation of FASTag would not be extended further, and the vehicle owners should immediately adopt the e-payment facility.
FASTags, which facilitate electronic payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016. Making the tags compulsory would also help in ensuring that vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas, as the fee payment would be done electronically.
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Replying to a query on FASTags, Gadkari said the government had extended the FASTag registration date limit two-three times before and now, it would not be extended further. Now, everybody should immediately buy FASTags, he added.
The FASTag registration has gone up to 90 per cent on some routes and only 10 per cent people are left. FASTag is also available on toll nakas and people should purchase and use it for seamless traffic, he told reporters at the Nagpur airport.
The central government extended the FASTag deadline for the vehicles from January 1, 2021, to February 15, 2021.
