How to buy or recharge FASTags online and offline?

Effective from 1st December 2019, you have to use FASTags for toll payment in India. How to buy or recharge FASTags online or offline?

What is FASTags?

To reduce vehicular traffic at the toll plazas, the Government of India (GOI) has mandated all toll plazas, pan India, to make toll payments electronic by Dec 01, 2019. With this mandate, all vehicles traveling through toll plazas will have to mandatorily pay toll charges using FASTag.

FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction. FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted. The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen after the tag account is active.

FASTag is a perfect solution for a hassle-free trip on national highways. FASTag is presently operational at 407 toll plazas across national and state highways. More toll plazas will be brought under the FASTag program in the future.

Once your FASTag account is active and you cross a FASTag-enabled lane on a toll plaza, a balance is automatically deducted from your bank account and you will receive an SMS alert on your registered mobile number.

If you enter a FASTag-enabled lane without getting a FASTag active, you will be charged double the amount of toll fee and will have to pay by cash.

FASTag has unlimited validity. The same FASTag can be used till the tag is read by the reader and not tampered with. In case due to wear and tear the reading quality depreciates, please reach out to your Issuing Bank for a new tag.

FASTag is issued by Issuing Banks and banks can charge maximum of Rs. 200/- for each tag. However, the actual tag issuing charges are defined by the Issuing Bank and may vary from bank to bank.

If you are owning two vehicles, then you have to buy two FASTags.

If you lost the FASTags, then you can request the Issuing Bank to issue a new tag. The balance amount in the old tag linked account can be transferred to either the new tag account or some different account depending on the facilities provided by the bank.

By calling your Issuing Bank customer care and block your FASTag account.

Documents required to buy FASTags

Since the FASTag is linked to an account, KYC documentation would be required as per the KYC policy of the Issuer Bank. Apart from the KYC documentation, you need to submit a Registration Certificate (RC) of the vehicle along with the application for FASTag.
If the FASTag is linked to a prepaid account, then it can be issued as per below-defined limits:

1- Limited KYC FASTag account holder

This type of FASTag cannot have more than Rs. 20,000*/- limit in their FASTag (Prepaid) account. The monthly reload limit is also capped to Rs. 20,000/-.Requirements: Minimum KYC details (as per Issuer bank policy), vehicle RC Copy, Photo of the customer.*Limits prescribed by RBI till 30th December

2- Full KYC FASTag account holder

This type of FASTag account cannot have more than Rs. 1 Lakh limit in their FASTag (prepaid) account. There is no monthly reload cap in this account. Requirements: Full KYC details (as per Issuer bank policy), vehicle RC Copy, Photo of the customer.

How to buy or recharge FASTags online or offline?

Let us first understand the procedure of how to buy the FASTags. There are two ways to do. Let me explain one by one.

# How to buy FASTags OFFLINE?

FASTag can be purchased from over 28,000 Point-of-Sale (POS) locations set up by various banks, National Highways fee plazas, Regional Transport Offices, Common Service Centers, transport hubs, bank branches, and petrol pumps.

To know your nearest Point-of-Sale location, go to IHMCL’s website.

# How to buy FASTags ONLINE?

You can buy FASTag online on Amazon or by visiting websites of different member banks – SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis bank, Paytm Payment Banks, HDFC bank and IDFC First bank.

The list of the banks are as below.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, EQUITAS Small Finance Bank, PayTM Payments Bank Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Syndicate Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank, Saraswat Bank.

All these banks provide you the online facility to buy the FASTags. Using their online platform you can buy it easily.

# How to activate FASTags?

FASTags are ‘bank-neutral’, that is, no bank is pre-assigned to the FASTag at the time you purchase it from a POS terminal or online platform. The online FASTag is based on the concept of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) where you can self-activate it by entering vehicle details in the ‘My FASTag’ mobile app. Android smartphone users download the My FASTag app from ‘Google Play Store’ and iPhone users can download the app from ‘Apple Store’. Thereafter, you have the flexibility to link the FASTag with any one of your existing bank accounts by using the My FASTag Mobile app.

The NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) Prepaid wallet facility is also available in My FASTag mobile app, where you can load money and get your toll fee deducted from the prepaid wallet instead of getting it directly deducted from a bank account.

You can also buy FASTag by visiting the nearest certified bank branch and get the FASTag linked with your existing bank account and get it activated.

# How to recharge FASTags?

If the FASTag is already linked with your bank account, then there is no need to add money separately in a pre-paid wallet. You only need to ensure that your FASTag-linked bank account has sufficient balance to allow for payment at the toll plaza.

However, if you have linked the FASTag to a prepaid wallet (NHAI prepaid wallet), then it can be recharged through various channels such as payment through cheque or through UPI/debit card/ credit card/ NEFT/ Net Banking. Also, additional charges will be levied while recharging the FASTag account through different channels.