What is FASTag and how to apply for your car online or offline?
Govt of India has made mandatory for all private and commercial vehicles to have FASTag from 1st December, 2019 at all Toll Plazas in India. If you do not have FASTag you may need to pay double the toll charges after this cutoff date. If you are a frequent traveler, FASTag is one of the best way to cross toll plazas at with lesser time. This article would detail about FASTag benefits, how to apply for a FASTag and some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about this FASTag RFID sticker.
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What is FASTag and how does it work?
FASTag are prepaid rechargeable tags (RFID Sticker) that are affixed to the window screen of your car which is used to collect toll charges automatically. Currently, many of us are stopping the vehicles at toll plazas in long standing queues and paying at the counter. With FASTag, one need not wait their vehicle. Once the vehicle reaches the tollgate, the toll charges would be automatically deducted and you can move on. See the below picture to get a glimpse on how it works.
What is the benefit of FASTag?
Here are the major benefits.
1) Cashless payments
2) You can go cross toll plazas quickly and have faster transit
3) You can recharge FASTags online, don’t need to wait at toll plazas
Is it mandatory to buy FASTag?
Effective from 1st December, 2019, all toll plazas are equipped with FASTag collection machines for faster transit. However, it is not mandatory to buy FASTAG.
What happens if you don’t buy FASTag?
One would have following disadvantages over not having FASTags
1) You need to pay double the toll prices of what others pay. E.g. If you need to generally pay Rs 100, you need to pay Rs 200 if you don’t have FASTag
2) Except for 1 lane, all other lanes are now equipped with FASTag collection machines from 1st December, 2019. If you don’t have FASTag, you need to stand the long queue and your travel would get delayed.
What documents required to take FASTag?
The following documents are required to buy FASTag for your car or other commercial vehicle.
1) Registration Certification of your vehicle (RC).
2) Passport Size Photograph of the vehicle owner.
3) KYC documents of the vehicle owner (Photo + address proof like Aadhaar card, PAN card etc.).
How to Apply or Buy FASTag account and activate it online?
FASTag can be purchased from 22 certified banks and various Point of Sale (POS) at National High way Plazas and select bank branches. Here are the list of banks that are certified for FASTag. You can login to your internet banking and purchase them online.
1) Axis Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) IDFC Bank
4) SBI
5) HDFC Bank
6) Karur Vysya Bank
7) Equitas Small Finance Bank
8) PayTM Payments Bank
9) Kotak Bank
10) Syndicate bank
11) Federal Bank
12) South Indian bank
13) Punjab National Bank
14) Saraswathi Bank
15) Fino Payments Bank
16) city union bank
17) Bank of Baroda
18) Indusind Bank
19) Yes Bank
20) Union Bank
21) Nagpur Nagarik Sahakari Bank
22) PMC Bank
You can also purchase FASTags from Amazon.
How to apply or buy FASTag Online from ICICI Bank?
Let me explain one example by selecting ICICI Bank how you can apply FASTag online.
1) Visit this link on ICICI Bank / Fastag link.
2) Fill the details like First name, last name, Mothers maiden name, Gender, DOB, Mobile, email ID, ID proof (Driving license, voter card, Passport (1st and last page) and PAN Card).
3) Upload the ID proof soft copy indicated above
4) You would get OTP on your mobile number which you need to validate. Proceed next and relevant charges / deposit.
5) Your process is complete and you would get FASTag RFID stickers are delivered to your address.
However, one should note that few banks (including ICICI Bank) are offering FASTag only for light motor vehicles only.
How to buy FASTag Offline?
You can purchase FASTag offline from any of the below methods
1) Reach out to your Bank point of sale (POS) where you can submit the documents and get FASTag. Call your bank customer care to find out nearest POS of your bank.
2) You can take FASTag while travelling at National Highway toll plazas by submitting the KYC documents.
How to activate FASTag account?
1) First, you need to download “My FASTag” mobile app from google play store or apple store.
Click here to download the Android version of FASTag here.
Click here to download the IOS version (for iPhones) of FASTag here.
2) Open the mobile app and link your bank account from which your toll charges would get deducted.
3) You can select the option of prepaid wallet where in you can load money and you toll charges would get deducted from such prepaid wallet.
Your FASTag account is ready to use it now.
Is the FASTag free?
The charges for FASTag is not free. The maximum amount is Rs 200. However, this is at the discretion of the bank.
How to recharge FASTag online?
Here is how you can recharge FASTag online
1) If you’re already linked My FASTag mobile app to a bank account, you don’t need to recharge every time. As and when you cross a toll plaza, necessary charges would get deducted from our bank account. You need to just ensure that you have sufficient amount in your bank account.
2) You can login to your bank account and visit Fastag section and recharge with credit card / debit card / UPI, etc., If there is limited KYC done or your FASTag, you can have maximum of Rs 20,000 in your prepaid wallet. If you have done full KYC, then you can have Rs 1 Lakh amount in your prepaid wallet.
FAQs about FASTag
1) What is FASTag Login?
FASTag is not pertaining to single bank or portal. Each of the certified banks have been provided the authorization to sell these RFIDs. First you need to apply for FASTag stickers and then you can login to your bank account with the login credentials provided by them. E.g. ICICI Bank is providing login like icicibank.com/fastag and HDFC is providing like hdfcbank.com/fastag. First register/apply for FASTag. Then you can login with customer ID/RFID/wallet ID/Veh registration number etc., These details would change depending on your bank.
2) Can I use two vehicles with 1 FASTag?
You cannot use 1 FASTag for multiple vehicles. It can be used only for 1 vehicle. If you have multiple vehicles, you need to buy FASTag for each of them.
3) What are the various charges for FASTag?
When you purchase FASTag, this is not free. IHMCL claims that maximum amount is Rs 200, however, it could be at the discretion of the bank. HDFC Bank is charging Rs 400 for FASTag. ICICI Bank is charging Rs 499 as FASTag charges to issue. Please reach out to your bank to know the charges they are collecting before you purchase FASTag.
4) I have an iPhone, does My FASTag mobile app support?
My FASTag mobile app is available in android version as well as IOS version. Hence it would work perfectly for your iPhone.
5) Why my FASTag says Limited KYC done?
If you have submitted limited KYC documents while purchasing the FASTag, it would be tagged as limited KYC has done. For limited KYC users, one can have Rs 20,000 in their FASTag prepaid wallet.
6) What are the advantages of Full KYC in FASTag?
One has to provide complete KYC details in FASTag. If not, please get this done before 31st December, 2019. If you submitted full KYC documents to your bank, you can have up to Rs 1 Lakh in FASTag prepaid wallet.
7) Is there any concession with FASTag if I am residing nearly toll plaza?
If you reside within 10 kms from the toll plaza, special concession is applicable. You need to submit residence proof and relevant documents to your bank. Once they validate this, you are eligible for special concession of toll charges.
8) How can I get PayTM Fastag for free?
Paytm payments bank is not charging any FASTag charges. However, if you are buying through Paytm App or PayTM Payments bank website, you need to pay Rs 400 for car, jeep and van for FASTag (Charges: 0; Minimum balance Rs 150 and refundable deposit: Rs 250). You can buy through Paytm app or on Paytm Payments Bank website.
9) How to get FASTag Free of cost?
You might be thinking how to get FASTag RFIDs at free of cost. You need to purchase FASTags before 1st December, 2019 to get them at free of cost. While you would get this free of cost, even security deposit is waived off / borne by NHAI (based on the announcement by Nitin Ghadkari last week)
10) How to get FASTag offline?
Vehicle owners can visit any of the Point of Sale (POS) locations at Toll Plazas / Bank branches to collect FASTag offline.
11) Is there any discount or cash back if I use FASTag?
If you are FASTag user, you are eligible to get a monthly cash back of 2.5% of toll charges upto 31st March, 2020.
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12) How to purchase FASTag through online from Amazon?
Currently a FASTag product on Amazon shows not available. You can visit the Amazon website and check if this is available later point of time. But my advice is to go directly to the respective bank website and purchase it instead of waiting.
13) Would FASTag work only within my city limits?
FASTag would work at toll plazas across India.
14) What happens if I don’t maintain sufficient balance in my FASTag account?
If adequate balance is not maintained by the customer, the FASTag gets blacklisted at the toll plaza.
15) How can I get SBI Fastag?
You can visit https://fastag.onlinesbi.com/ to get SBI Fastag.
16) What is the minimum balance for FASTag?
One need to maintain minimum balance of Rs 150 in FASTag account.
17) Do these FASTags have an expiry period like a credit card?
No. These FASTags does not have any expiry period and can be used as long as these can be read by the machine.
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Suresh KP
What is FASTag and how to apply
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FASTag is very beneficial for all the Indians, read complete information here along with videos
Sir, Fastag is mandatory if am not use toll Plaza?
Babu
Hello Babu, If you don’t go through highway that has toll, you don’t need fastag
Very informative – thank you very much..
Thankyou for the information ,It will be uswful for us in future.
Hi Suresh,
Thank you for a very informative article. Most of my doubts were cleared. However, I have one small query. What happens to the RFID tag when i sell my car? Is there a provision to transfer it to my new car or to the new owner of my old car?
If not how can i get the balance in my Fast tag account refunded?
Good question. Even I don’t have an answer. Lets wait for more details on this too.
From what I understand, best option is to cancel the fastag account, since it is connected to both you (KYC, Bank account) and the Vehicle (RC). Buyer of your vehicle can get his own fastag card for him and the vehicle.
You are too good. However one should not forget this before selling their car 🙂
I also have one small query, can we withdraw fastag? in some circumstances like vehicle accident or complete damage/theft etc.
Ajay, Fastag can be cancelled. You need to call Fastag customer support (where you bought) for this.