[mchandra13]

I applied through ICICI online and received my Fastag from ICICI in 7 Business days with no manual intervention. Since then I have done 2 long trips and at one point, at the last toll before my destination, I ran out of balance and still the scanner read the tag and allowed me thru. When I checked the balance after reaching my destination, it showed -35 Rs with a message that tag is disabled due to low balance. Once I refilled the account, the tag is automatically activated and I continued to use it without any issues.

In the Blr - Hassan route I didnt face any issues both ways and it was breeze to go through the Fastag lanes.

In my recent trip between Blr - Hyd, I noticed few problems.
The first, it has lot more truck traffic and most trucks nowadays are fitted with Fastag. When there are trucks in front of you in the Fastag lane, it inevitably slows down the lane. I have seen the toll guys climbing up the front of the truck with a scanner to scan the tag which was not detected by the overhead scanner. This slows down the traffic in the lane
The second, the placement of the scanner is very inconsistent along the Blr - Hyd route. At some places, the scanner is placed right at the booth window and in some other places the scanner is placed just at the beginning of the lane good 50mts ahead of the booth. The tolls near Anantapur and Gooty have this problem. In one of the tolls, I was right behind a truck at the beginning of the lane and moved on along with the truck into the lane only to be shooed away by the guy over there. I have to reverse all the way back to the beginning of the lane to get the tag read.

The good part is ORR in Hyd have started accepting Fastag and I had good experience going through the tolls there.

I am yet to get into a situation where I needed to pay cash despite of having Fastag either due to heavy crowding of the lane or due to non-working of the scanners. I hear from folks in Blr that the airport toll is notorious for these issues and I am yet to take my car to airport. Thankfully vehicles proceeding to Hyd have a different toll booth down the road and doesnt need to get into the airport toll queues.
All in all, the system is definitely a step in the right direction and needs some of these niggles to be sorted out to become better. I am sure it will evolve over time and become better. I envision it to work similar to EZpass in US.

[Funny]

Originally Posted by BlueEyes

This is my primary concern, how easy it is to recharge your Fastag?
I use Paytm regularly, so this looks like a good option. Even though getting it quickly is ruled out, for my location Paytm shows 2 weeks to deliver!!

AFAIK, PayTM Fastag is recharged using your PayTM wallet itself. So as long as you have balance in your usual PayTM wallet, you don't have to do anything. It auto loads some threshold amount from your PayTM wallet into the Fastag account each time the balance gets over. I will check and confirm on this.

[A_v_i]

Ordered my Fastag from HDFC's site. Very seamless, everything online, and i have the Fastag in my hand in less than a week. Now to test out the Fastag.


Are there any interference concerns with the existing RFID that comes from the car manufacturer? BMW's RFID is in the middle, behind the left side of the rearview mirror and i was planning to put the Fastag RFID behind the right side of the rearview mirror. About a 4" gap between the two, will that be sufficient?

[airbus]

Originally Posted by Funny

AFAIK, PayTM Fastag is recharged using your PayTM wallet itself. So as long as you have balance in your usual PayTM wallet, you don't have to do anything. It auto loads some threshold amount from your PayTM wallet into the Fastag account each time the balance gets over. I will check and confirm on this.

Correct. I have been using Paytm Fastag for 1.5 years now and as long as you have balance in your Paytm wallet, you are good. Paytm keeps Rs. 150 in the Fastag wallet and toll is paid from this, but immediately recovered from the Paytm wallet.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by Funny

AFAIK, PayTM Fastag is recharged using your PayTM wallet itself. So as long as you have balance in your usual PayTM wallet, you don't have to do anything. It auto loads some threshold amount from your PayTM wallet into the Fastag account each time the balance gets over. I will check and confirm on this.

Fastag wallet will always have 150 rs in it. It will auto deduct from the main paytm wallet as and when you go through a toll. All you need to do is to make sure that the linked paytm wallet is topped up before the trip.

I also have auto load on Paytm, so it will reload paytm main wallet, every time the wallet balance falls below a certain threshold.

[emkay.india]

I was travelling to Coimbatore from Chennai recently. I, unknowingly, entered a fastag lane and my sister's car was around 100 meters behind me. I went all the way near the barricade pole only to find no one there. I waited for few seconds and miraculously the pole opened and off I went smiling that it malfunctioned (it was around 2 AM)

Few seconds later my sister called me asking if I have fastag. After hearing no for an answer, she said that I had used her car's fastag as it seems the reader was at the beginning of the lane. When she entered, the reader read her tag and opened the pole allowing me to pass through.

Now we being siblings had no problem and we actually had a good laugh which cleared all the sleep we had. But wouldn't it be an issue if someone in front of me uses my balance? Has anyone faced any similar instance?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by emkay.india

Now we being siblings had no problem and we actually had a good laugh which cleared all the sleep we had. But wouldn't it be an issue if someone in front of me uses my balance? Has anyone faced any similar instance?

Yes, this can happen. So, better not to tailgate the vehicle in front.

[a26genius]

Payments using FASTags at petrol pumps, parking lots soon

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/B8...lots-soon.html

[ananthacharya]

After months of happy experiences with the Paytm FASTag, i have encountered a loop hole which is beneficial for Toll operators. I was doing a Bengaluru Airport run early in the morning, and i went to the FASTag lane towards the airport. The lane didnt allow me through for a 10-20 seconds, so i backed up and took the next lane, where i declared my tag. The operator did a manual handheld device scan and let me through. On the way back i opted for a manual scan as well.

However the next day i found that i have been charged Rs.85 twice for journey towards the airport with an hour's gap and Rs.45 once for the return journey. In spite of detailing the issue and raising it with Paytm 3 times, i have not got the extra charge reversed. Anyone have any luck with Paytm CC in these cases?

[strawhat]

Originally Posted by ananthacharya

After months of happy experiences with the Paytm FASTag, i have encountered a loop hole which is beneficial for Toll operators. I was doing a Bengaluru Airport run early in the morning, and i went to the FASTag lane towards the airport.

I've had bad experiences at Devanahalli toll gates especially on the city direction. I approach the barrier on the FasTag line but it would remain closed. After a couple of attempts the guard would come up and diverts me to another line without much explanation. This happened multiple times and I've since stopped entering this FasTag line. I keep seeing cars unable to cross the barrier, reversing and joining other lines. Comparatively the FasTag setup on onward direction toll only gave up once, as far as I remember. The manual scanner worked though that time. Is it because the return toll usually sees more volume the staff refrain from using manual scanners?

The extra toll I was charged was refunded. I use PayTM FasTag as well. May be because my transactions list the same amount twice in immediate intervals, hence being so apparent. You probably have to wait for a few days and then check your wallet for any reversal.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by strawhat

I've had bad experiences at Devanahalli toll gates especially on the city direction.

I am an early adopter of FASTag (~November 2016) and a regular flyer (2 day/short trips per week usually) and always take my Octavia. Have been pretty satisfied with both the Devanahalli FASTag lanes but have noticed a major response lag in the last ~18 months.

Earlier, the response times from the FASTag sensors/servers were much faster and you could generally sail through them at ~10 km/hr. Nowadays it takes a lot of maneuvering, ultra-slow speeds and many-a-times have to wait at the booth for the barrier to open. Even the operator sits helplessly and stares at his screen waiting for the green signal. This is from the Devanahalli toll.

I can only attribute it to slow response times from the FASTag application itself OR network issues with the local installation. Is this a IN trend due to the tremendous explosion is coverage is slowing down response times across the country.

Does anyone know the architecture of the FASTag application? I am assuming it is an OLRT system as any FASTag vehicle can be approaching a FASTag equipped tollbooth anywhere in IN. Would be interesting to know!

[fiat_tarun]

How does one get a replacement Fastag ? The dealer has fixed my Paytm Fastag too low on my windshield and I am thinking of ordering a replacement to place it in a better position so it doesn't fall in my line of sight.

[binand]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Does anyone know the architecture of the FASTag application?

I have this doc in my library. It has some details, but perhaps not to the depth you are looking for.

NETC_ETC_PG_V1_6.pdf

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Does anyone know the architecture of the FASTag application? I am assuming it is an OLRT system as any FASTag vehicle can be approaching a FASTag equipped tollbooth anywhere in IN. Would be interesting to know!

What is OLRT?

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

How does one get a replacement Fastag ? The dealer has fixed my Paytm Fastag too low on my windshield and I am thinking of ordering a replacement to place it in a better position so it doesn't fall in my line of sight.

Why not just get a new one and disable the current one?

Also, last year in Jan 2018 when I bought the GTI, dealer told me Fastag is mandatory without which a car can not be registered with RTO. And he gave me an option to choose a Fastag vendor recommending PayTm. I said OK and the the car came with the PayTm Fastag. However, this is not true anymore and now a new car can be registered without Fastag I am told. Any idea if this is true? Have the rules changed?

[ananthacharya]

Originally Posted by strawhat

The extra toll I was charged was refunded. I use PayTM FasTag as well. May be because my transactions list the same amount twice in immediate intervals, hence being so apparent. You probably have to wait for a few days and then check your wallet for any reversal.

This was early December and it was not auto refunded, reason why i raised my 4th Ticket with Paytm yesterday.

The reason was my double charge might be because the transactions posted late in the Paytm Fastag System. My transactions are as below

To Airport - 5:30 AM - Rs.85
From Airport - 7:30 AM - Rs.45
To Airport - 8 AM - Rs.85 (The double charge. The system must have thought i came back to the airport, but it was the Manual scan which posted late in the system! )