The transport ministry on Sunday said all lanes to fee plazas on national highways will be declared FASTag lanes and that any vehicle entering without the electronic toll payment facility will have to pay double the applicable fee.
The compulsory use of FASTag will take effect from the midnight of 15-16 February, the ministry said.
The idea is “to promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption and provide for a seamless passage through the fee plazas,” the ministry said.
The deadline for implementing FASTag would not be extended further and vehicle owners should immediately adopt the e-payment facility, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said in Nagpur on Sunday.
FASTag, which enables electronic payment of fee, was rolled out in 2016. The government had extended the FASTag registration deadline two-three times and would not extend it further, Gadkari said. Everybody should immediately buy FASTags, news agency PTI quoted the minister as saying.
Gadkari said registrations for FASTag has soared 90% on some routes, leaving only 10% people who are still to use it. FASTags are also available at toll plazas and people should purchase and use them for seamless travel, the minister said, according to the PTI report.
