FASTag overtakes Cash on National Highway Fee Plazas in the state of Andhra Pradesh;

Glitches and Solutions

Toll collection through FASTags has surpassed payments made through cash across the
national highway network. While average daily toll collection through FASTags increased
presently to 61% from 31% in the first week of November. Daily cash collection dipped by 30%
during this period.

Official data showed there was a substantial rise in the number of vehicles paying toll
through FASTag i.e., 141946 no.of vehicles a day at present from 87361 no.of vehicles a day
in the first week of November, seen as an indication that people have accepted the new
mode of paying user fee.

65%

60%

55% ETC Collection

50%

45% Cash
Collection
40%

35%

30%
Nov 1st Nov 2nd Nov 3rd Nov 4th Dec 1st Dec 2nd Dec 3rd Dec 4th
week week week week week week week week

However there are certain problems which are being faced by the Road users in using
of FASTag and solutions to the same are listed as under:

Problem-1:

Sometimes, users may face the issue of your FASTag not working. What this essentially means is
that your vehicle may go through the RFID scanner, and it is not able to detect your FASTag.

Solution-1:

1. Ensure the windshield glass is clean and dry from the inside before applying the Fastag
sticker.

2. If your windshield has a UV Protection film on the inside, you need to remove the film
from the area where you plan to stick the Fastag. The Fastag sticker must be installed
directly on glass. UV protection films have a layer of metallic oxides on them which
prevents the RFID reader at the toll booth from reading your vehicle's Fastag.

3. While sticking the Fastag to your windshield, do not press hard or else you might damage
the chip within. Once stuck, do not peel off the Fastag and try to move elsewhere. This
too will damage the chip.
 4. While approaching the toll booth do not get close to the vehicle in front of you. Maintain
a gap of at least 10 feet. Wait till the vehicle in front of you goes past the toll gate
barrier, and the barrier arm is lowered before bringing your vehicle within the sensing
range of overhead tag reader.

5. It is necessary to maintain a minimum balance as per the class of Vehicle in your Fastag e-
wallet. Otherwise the toll booth board displays the Fastag Blacklisted message and you'll
be required to pay the toll by cash / card.

Problem-2:

Sometimes toll charge may be deducted twice from your account, in the wake of a technical
error.

Solution-2:

The bank your tag account is registered with can help you with this. By going on your FASTag
customer portal, you can register a claim regarding double deduction of toll amount, and can put
in a request for a recompensation.

Problem-3:

Sometimes, the toll is debited from your Fastag, but the toll booth system fails to get updated
and you'll have to pay the toll by cash or card.

Solution-3:

In such cases, ensure the toll receipt mentions your vehicle's registration number correctly. In
this situation you'll have to upload the photo of your toll receipt on your Fastag provider's website
/ portal / app and request a refund. No refund is issued unless the photo of the toll receipt is
uploaded, and it has your vehicles registration number mentioned on it.

Problem-4:

FASTag to Exempted category of vehicles

Solution-4:

NHAI has developed a portal through IHMCL for issuance of FASTags to Exempted category. The
users coming under the Exempted category may access the portal @ www.ihmcl.com for
submitting the online application for issuance of Exempted FASTags.

Problem-5:

Double deduction of toll fee even if the vehicle on return journey passing through the same fee
plaza within 24 hours as against the charging of 1.5 times the applicable fee.

Solution-5:

The bank your tag account is registered with can help you with this. By going on your FASTag
customer portal, you can register a claim regarding double deduction of toll amount, and can put
in a request for a recompensation.

Further, users can also contact the Customer Care number of NHAI @ 1003 for resolving any type of
issues related to FASTag/ ETC.