NEW FASTAG RULES

Every driver must know the new rules for FASTag coming into force from 17 Feb 2025 itself.

The government bodies National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have jointly decided to alter the set of FASTag rules.

Change in new rules enhances the efficiency in toll collection, lessens congestion, and improves compliance as well.

As per the NPCI circular, the vehicles owners having low balance in their FASTag wallet are needed to pay the penalties. Getting late to pay the toll and blacklisted FASTags also ask to pay the fine. A new change in FASTag rule is getting in effect from Monday 17 February 2025.  

 

 

New FASTag Rules List

1. Blacklisted  FASTags:

If your FASTag gets blocked by any issue then it is considered as a blacklisted FASTag. With blacklisted FASTag, you won’t be able to pay the toll tax. Users are unable to pay the tax if their FASTag remains blacklisted for 60 minutes before the fastag is read. Continuing to this, if the FASTag remains blacklisted for 10 minutes after the scan, then also users cannot make a payment.  In such cases, the system may show a message “error code 176”.

2. Grace Time Period:

To unblock the FASTag wallet and recharge it, users will get a window period of  70 minutes. In these 70 minutes, users have to fix and resolve the technical issues disallowing them to use FASTag.

3. Low Balance:

If you don't have enough balance in your FASTag wallet, still your vehicle will cross the toll plaza. But the toll charges will get deducted from the FASTag’s security deposit once you cross the toll. The amount deducted from the security deposit will get a refund once you recharge your FASTag wallet. On disobeying these rules, vehicle owners would have to pay the double toll tax.  It implies if the initial toll amount is 200 Rs, and you don't recharge your toll wallet within an hour, you will be asked to pay 400 Rs as a penalty.

4. Impact of Blacklisting Fastag:

Suspecting fraud while paying a toll can result in the blacklisting FASTag. If you haven't updated your KYC, also be a reason for blacklisting FASTag. Drivers need to pay double toll charges having blacklisted FASTags reaching the toll plaza. However, you are permitted to recharge your toll wallet within 10 minutes of the toll scan. At that point, you can request to refund the penalty amount.

5. Late Transaction:

Sometimes, transactions may delay due to insufficient balance or any technical issue. It takes more than 15 minutes, then users might have to pay delay charges after their vehicle crosses the toll plaza.

6. Chargebacks:

Only after the 15 days cooling period, banks can raise the chargebucks for invalid deductions in case of blacklisted FASTags. For example, if you found any suspicious transaction to your FASTag, you can ask the bank for chargebacks after 15 days from the day of translation.

 

Why Are New Fastag Rules Being Introduced?

FASTag new rules have been introduced to make people aware about the system and avoid the crowd near toll stations. It has been observed that many drivers neglect to check their FASTag wallet and forget to recharge it. In these circumstances, they prefer to pay toll tax manually or recharge the FASTag wallet on time which creates hassle. This causes long vehicle queues and heavy traffic and proves time wasting too. To avoid these trials and tribulations, it was necessary to have a strategy. People need to be proactive to maintain minimum balance in their FASTag wallet.

In a nutshell, to tighten the toll paying system and prevent vehicle congestion on highways, NPCI introduced the new rule for maintaining low balance. If people start to follow these rules, they can continue their journey without any penalty. 

 

How to Avoid Issues and Penalties with New FASTag Rules

• Maintain sufficient balance in your fast tag wallet.
• Consistently verify your FASTag status, to confirm whether it is active and not backlisted.
• Get alerts about the FASTag status to disallow rejections owing to inactivity.
• Look for the delays in deduction by monitoring the translation times.
• Do not neglect the notifications sent by banks.

 

FAQs

What are New Rules for FASTag?

• Toll transactions will be declined for blacklisted or low balanced Faststags exceeding 60 minutes reaching upon the toll plaza.
• Toll payment will be rejected if a FASTag gets blacklisted for 10 minutes after the scanning.
• Transaction not allowed for FASTags wallet with low amount.
• Additional charges for delaying the transaction process.

Is the Government Planning to Introduce a New Toll Collection System?

Yes, the Government has plans to swap the FASTag system with a new GNSS based toll system. It will be a purely distance based system that enhances the transparency factor. Also, it will get the user free from frequent recharges. 

Is FASTag Getting Discontinued?

No, FASTags won't get discontinued until and unless the GSS system gets implemented across the country for all highways. For now, the new FASTag rules have come into effect. 

From When Penalties to Be Effective According to New FASTag Rules?

As per the new changes in FASTag rules, if a toll translation takes more than 15 minutes to complete, then users have to pay the penalty. Blacklisted FASTag is also liable for penalty deduction.