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Finally after escalating and making lot of noise on Twitter and Facebook I got my Paytm Fastag at the last moment. They cancelled my order as they were unable to ship the same last Friday and asked me to place a fresh order again with a lengthy timeline. With all the time and effort wasted over 23 days I did not want to go through the ordeal again. So Tweeted with my order ID and someone from Noida head office reached out took my details again and promised to have it shipped. Nothing happened till Wednesday. All this while on my Paytm account I saw Fastag activated with a 150 balance and vehicle details. Es slated on Wednes6 again, this time they said it was packed and ready as the order got canceled the courier pickup did not happen. Finally the guy from Noids office called again. I told him I would place the order right now and I want it by Friday evening as I leave for Konkan on Saturday early morning 5 Am. He took the order details and committed on Friday delivery. Post follow up with Blue dart got the same on Friday evening. Was not able to use the same till now as we had only 2 till on our route to Dapoli and it had a 1 km long line in all lanes. Hopefully it will come in handy on my way back from Goa and I can test the same out. Finally the 1 month ordeal that started on 20 November came to an end on 21 December and I got the Fastag.

Thanks everyone here for their guidance and inputs. Apologies in advance for Typos and errors as I am travelling and this update is through mobile.

Fastag experience from recent Bangalore-Palakkad-Bangalore trip:
Onward & Return - used the exclusive Fastag lane at all tolls and it worked without any hitches wherever they had automatic scanners. At some tolls, the hand held scanners were used. I noticed that these scanners are much more bulkier and have a better range, so the personnel outside the toll booth just aim it at the tag on the windshield from a distance and wave you on :)

Onward - long lines in non-Fastag lanes at Attibele, Karumathampatti and Kumarapalayam. Would have saved 15+ minutes overall for sure. Fastag lane at Attibele took 3-4 minutes to cross due to trucks.

Return - longer lines in non-Fastag lanes at PampamPallam (Walayar), Karumathampatti and Attibele. Fastag lane at Attibele took 5 minutes to cross due to vehicles lined up haphazardly and diverging out near the security guard operated barrier to enter the lane. Time saving easily 25-30 minutes overall.

Hello Everyone

I am sharing a brief on my Fastag ordering experience in Gurgaon, hoping it is of some help. :thumbs up

I spent almost all afternoon researching various vendors and the ordering process. It was a casual Google search with 'Fastag POS near me' that worked eventually. I saw IDFC had tagged quite a few of their branches, and one of them had a mobile number. I called and found the Branch Manager on the line, who seemed to have no idea if his branch was dealing in Fastag. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and a casual-seeming remark of I'll-find-out-and-let-you-know didn't seem too different. But it was. He called back in hardly any time, with someone who knew the Fastag business conferenced in. He said they have a POS at Kherki Daula open till 1930, and another one at Cyber City. KD seemed far away to me, and surprise, he said he will have someone call me. Another unexpected call followed in a matter of minutes. The guy on the line said if I could come to Cyber City, a private car tag could be done instantly. I told him the other guy said it could be delivered at home. He agreed, took the documents over Whatsapp, and a 400-rupee transfer later, I had an activated tag in my hands in a matter of hours. If I had gone to him, it would have been minutes. Also, the 400 I paid, is more like 300, since the tag was pre-charged for 100.

IDFC really surprised me, given that it hardly got any mentions in this thread. You can Whatsapp him on 9971186421; please don't call him, use the messaging option.

Disadvantages:

a) No app support; need to use a web URL for recharging. The portal though is pretty simple to use, and unlike Equitas, I didn't get an SSL warning from the browser.

b) Payment is through CCAvenue, so even a UPI recharge sees some 'fee'. Four rupees for a 500 top up, I think.

etollservices@idfcbank.com

PSA

Avoid using standing instruction with your fast tag account. Overnight, I have been debited INR 1000, 57 times. Since both bank and tag are ICICI, I am hoping that it will be reversed.

Has this happened to you ? Let me know how you had it reversed.

Hi,

Do you get the tag straight away, or does it get delivered later?

You get it straight away. No delays what so ever

Similar experience on the Coimbatore - Blr leg yesterday.. Fasttag really helped in saving time at all tolls till Krishnagiri (Eg. Thoppur, Omalur, Avinashi, Sankari etc) where the mayhem started. Krishnagiri had hybrid collection across all lanes and Fasttag lane was the longest, so I went into one of the hybrid lanes which took same time. Attibele was total chaos around 4 PM and there was over half a kilometer of traffic at all lanes.. Everyone was trying to jump lanes and the public transport buses, TTs who thought they were the smartest added to the chaos. Took over 10 mins in the Fasttag lane, other lanes were moving at similar pace.

Would have saved 15-20 mins easily at the tolls before Krishnagiri but Fasttag saved no time at either Krishnagiri and Attibele which are always the most chaotic and poorly managed ones.

Thanks. I got the fastag from Nagasandra toll in Bangalore. Got it straight away without any issues. Now let's see how effective it is once I hit the highway tmrw.

Here's where I have been disappointed, at least in Hyderabad.
The fast tag lane is crowded with non fast tag users. I don't know if the attendants are calling them in this lane to ease congestion or the drivers unknowingly are driving here because it is less crowded.
Once I reach the counter I gesture & point to the fast pasted on the windscreen for him to charge. This is probable the only thing which is fast!!lol:

I hope your experience is good.

Update: got my refund in 10 days flat including transparent status updates with time-date stamps. Very impressed with ICICI service.

+1. FASTag is more of SLOWTag now on the ORR.

It is to ease congestion and nothing else. A dedicated FASTag lane even though present, they are using it like the Hybrid lanes marked at some exits. IMO it'll take a while till users understand the lane differentiation and follow them accordingly.

My recent experience on Mumbai-Udaipur section, including NE1 and some offshoots is that most toll plazas accept Fastag in all lanes. Even though some lanes are marked as dedicated, hybrid, cash, truck, car, etc., in practice any kind of vehicle can get into any lane of their choice and use any payment method.

Further, a majority of the commercial vehicles on this section had Fastag, so they would anyway be using Fastag lanes. So, in relative terms, between cash and Fastag, time saved is zero. It is only for convenience of payment.

Please note that this observation is restricted to the NH section mentioned above and experiences on other routes may be somewhat different.

I drove to Chikmagalur and Belur twice last week and here is what I noticed at Bellur Cross (Nelligere) and Kirisave toll booths :):





So VIP lanes do exist and at Nelligere I did notice a car driver having a discussion with the guard who then let him pass.

Team, what is the quickest way to get fastag? A long highway trip coming up in a weak's time and I am trying to procure a RFID before that.
Can I walk into a authorized bank and buy one? and how has been the experience of fellow members with fastag trough Paytm? I read about cashback offers couple of pages back.

Yes, I noted this while coming from home last weekend. However while coming back, most of the VIP lanes were used for regular traffic and Fasttag lane was dedicated.