Stuck at toll? Here is why some toll plazas do not read your FASTag properly

This week, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) enacted a new rule regarding FASTags. While it created confusion among customers, it may not be why you are stuck at the toll plaza. The latest clarification by the highway ministry hints that some toll gates still use older technology leading to delays in them seeking FASTag status information.

Referring specifically to tags with a low balance, and those in hotlist and blacklist, the NPCI circular stated the following: "Transactions presented on tags which are not active for more than 60 minutes prior to reader read time and up to 10 minutes after reader read time shall be declined with reason code 176."

Urging banks to make necessary changes to their systems and processes, the payments handler issued the circular back on Jan 28, 2025. The rule came into effect this week, from Feb 17, 2025.

This caused quite the confusion among commuters, with some drivers even wondering if they had to recharge the FASTags at least an hour earlier before they reached a toll. "Do we need to recharge this early before we hit a toll? What happens if we need to go somewhere urgently?" enquired a worried driver.

To that effect, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways came out with an official clarification, declaring that the action by the NPCI "has no impact on FASTag customer experience."

Doubling down that the NPCI rule was in place to streamline the transactions between the acquirer bank and issuer bank on FASTag status, the ministry clarified that it ensured that customers were not harassed due to late transactions.

The highway ministry added that customers could recharge their FASTag any time before crossing the toll plaza at all national highways. All National Highway toll plazas run on the ICD 2.5 protocol and they provide the status of the FASTags in real-time.

This means that customers don't have to recharge 60 minutes earlier—they could do so any time before they cross the toll.

However, some toll plazas on state highways still run on the older ICD 2.4 protocol, and they need regular updates on the FASTag status. These are the ones that could possibly hinder your trip experience. If the toll plaza takes time to update the current tag status due to the outdated protocol, your recharge might not get reflected.

For this, the highway ministry urged FASTag customers to link the tag wallet to UPI or bank accounts with auto-recharge facility "to eliminate the need for manual recharges." In the meantime, the ministry ensured that they plan to shift all such toll plazas to the updated ICD 2.5 protocol "shortly."

So, the next time you recharge your FASTag right before a toll plaza and it does not get reflected at the plaza gate, it just means they run the older protocol. The latest NPCI rule may not have anything to do with it, since it only pertains to faster communication between the FASTag account and that of the plaza.