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-   -   FASTag: All you need to know about procuring & using it! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/179085-fastag-all-you-need-know-about-procuring-using-77.html)

Short Answer: Not bad. Needs improvement though

The HDFC online portal, recharging were are without any hassles. The NEFT recharge was with some commission of about 8 Rs or so.

Onward:
1) Attibele, the lane was guarded but not visible as other vehicles were crouching on the entry. But the guard was firm and allowed only the privileged. It was the fastest lane and absolutely no issues at all. I did not get any SMS though (In fact no SMS at all anytime for any deduction)

2) Krishnagiri: Took some time as the vehicles were again blocking but through again faster than most other vehicles. No issues

3) Tindivanam: The lane was blocked with some barrel. 2 guys were stationed with a small hut structure for that. All lanes were free but wanted to try FasTag. So, after honking they came and opened. But there was one more barricade after 100 metres which was unmanned and didn't open. The same guy cooly walked and opened that too. After that at the exit, there was another barrel and apparently the tag didn't read. So one guy came with a hand held machine and read the tag and removed the barrel

Return:
Tindivanam: This time the barrel was again there but due to lack of manpower no one came to remove it after repeated honking. The guy at the toll was cool about it and said that I can complain in the number provided

2 Tolls in Chennai highway and Krishnagiri: All cool - no major issues but it was a bit slow with trucks and buses

Attibele: Since I had just loaded 300, I had only 10 Rs balance. I told the guard, but he said that is fine and allowed me in the FasTag and I paid by cash.

The website is updated with all transactions neat and clean

Overall it is a good initiative that is spoiled by the toll guys and the way the handle the lane. For eg, in one case it was the left most and in other it was the right most and in yet another case it was second from left (though marked clearly and indicated about 300 metres before the toll gate)

I am still happy with it and will continue to use it actively..

I've a few queries to enrol myself for the FASTag via the HDFC portal, and appreciate it if you could please answer my queries in relation to the application form:

1. What does one mean by 'Count of vehicle'? The dropdown menu has options like 1-5, 6-20, and more than 20.
2. What should I input for 'Lead Provider'? If I select Branch banking, it asks for LG code etc
3. I also don't see the PIN CODE of the address where I reside. Is it also possible to give another address?
4. I also don't see 'Kerala' at all in the Point-of-Sale locations.

Thanks in advance.

1. It means for how many vehicles do you need a tag.
2. Just select "Other" and put Google or something it's fine. It's not important.
3. I believe you will need an address that matches one of your address proof govt. ID.
4. It means (most likely) HDFC doesn't have visit & buy locations in Kerala yet. You might still be able to get the delivered. Call their customer care and see what they have to say.

If HDFC is not present in Kerala, you can get a tag from the other options. Check my reply in previous pages to see all other banks which provide the tag.

I am also planning to procure one - and was interested in identifying differences between banks. I still have a question or rather confused by the information in the ICICI website.
In the Active Toll Plaza list -
https://www.icicibank.com/Personal-B...page?#toptitle

there are 2 lists, the second one being List of Other Bank Toll Plaza.
So does this just refer to TollPlaza not being managed by ICICI and would any FastTag procured through any bank work.
Why put this list and confuse?

In the AXIS bank list - there were close to 42 entries for TN, whereas in ICICI - both list put together account for 37. Hope this is just the case of not having latest updates.

It's an RFID tag. Doesn't require a line of sight to be detected.

FASTag will work on any plaza which is FASTag enabled. It doesn't matter which bank you take the tag from.

Don't put it on the sunroof. A lot of plazas use hand held scanners. It will difficult for them.

Also you would need to spend quite some time to explain where it is, if there are manual barriers removed by an attendant. You cant expect them to jump and see if you have a tag for them to let you through. It's better to put it where they are expecting to see it viz. below the rear-view mirror.

I went from Bangalore to Chennai and back this weekend and got to experience the Fastag first hand. Here are my observations.
1. Fastag was read correctly at all tolls except 1 to and back from Chennai
2. Fastag Lanes need to be marked at least 500 to 1000 meters in advance. In some tolls like Krishnagiri, Attibele where the lines are long, we need to wade from one toll line to another to come to the correct Fastag lane.
3. On the onward journey at one place, the fastag was not working and after repeated honking an attendant came out and asked to use the other lane and inform that attendant that we have fastag. I was not charged for this toll.

4. On my return, at Pallikonda toll, it was raining heavily and a tourist bus was stuck in the fastag lane at the counter. I don't know if the bus was broken down or the fastag was not reading. Waited, honked for 5 minutes and finally reversed and moved to another cash lane. They said they will accept cash and fastag reading is possible only in the dedicated lane. Had a small argument, paid the money and drove off.

5. It is best to try and overtake trucks and buses when getting into the fastag lanes. If the bus's tag is not read, the entire circus of forward, reverse etc. starts which is frustrating and leads to delay.

6. Saved a lot of time at Krishnagiri and Attibele tolls as the entry was manned and they were only allowing fastag vehicles.

All in all, except for the one place where I had to pay cash due to a bus breakdown, I did not have to shell out cash anywhere. I got all the SMSs in a few hours. I like this facility and hope they iron out the initial issues and make it smoother for all commuters.

Just got Fastags for 2 cars in Bangalore.

For home delivery of tags, Bangalore folks may call ICICI rep Mr. Senthil on 8217056120 or 9900280259. He is most helpful and prompt. He comes to your home/office to get the forms and documents and delivers the tags in a week.

So my current tag got detected all of once by a handheld scanner and not at all by all the 10..11 other times my car passed handheld or automated scanners on chennai to bangalore and then back.

Each time they asked me to try aiming my car directly at the sensor, often on a short pole to the right / drivers side of the car if it isn’t mounted overhead.

The fastag agent says if the tag is read even once it isn’t defective and declines to replace it. So I opened a ticket with the Axis bank call centre. Let's see.

Travelled Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore, these are my experiences.

Onward on 04-Aug
1.BETL - Crossed within 30 seconds, smooth sail.
2.Attibelle - Little crowded due to trucks and buses but delayed due to our fellow citizens reluctance in letting me change the lane. Atlast had to jump the queue to beat the few 20 wheeler trucks to cross the lane. The car in front of me did not have the tag but let go by the guard and collected cash from him.
3.Krishnagiri - Few TNSTC buses in front - smooth sail as the guard had hand held scanner.
4.Vaniyambadi - no guards and no vehicles in front - smooth sail
5.Pallikonda - smooth sail
6.Walaja - smooth sail
7.Sriperumpudur - difficult to reach the lane due to large and slow moving truck - 10minutes to reach fastag lane.

Return journey 06-Aug
1.Sriperumpudur - all the lanes crowded - fastag lane was the fastest - 3-4 minutes
2.Walaja - smooth sail
3.Pallikonda - Raining - fastag lane appeared to be slow - paid cash in other lane.
4.Vaniyambadi - smooth sail.
5. Krishnagiri - very crowded but the guard helped enter the lane by diverting away non fastag vehicles.
6. Attibelle - fastag lane crowded - paid cash in other lane
7. BETL - smooth sail.

Scrap and apply for a new one if you travel frequently. Not worth the time and energy, as there might be unidentified bugs/glitches in these electronics, certainly not state of the art.

Mine did not fail even once in the past 10months I have been using this and I would have crossed fastag scanners atleast 90-100 times in toto. It has made my Bangalore-Chennai trip atleast 30minutes shorter and smoother.

P.S. I use ICICI fastag. Though theoretically it does not require line of sight. I make sure I move very slowly from atleast 50metres till I reach the sensor. I never even needed to stop many of the times.

Does anyone know about this website called travelguru? It shows the amount of toll between two locations in India. Is it reliable? If it is, could be a great thing for FASTag users to refill their wallets accordingly.

Travelguru is a online travel portal like makemytrip and others. Not sure how reliable their toll data is.

NHAI has their own toll information portal, however the details in that too are not always correct.

Link

Extremely sorry, I wanted to say transportguru.in (don't know why travelguru got stuck in mind) which is entirely dedicated in calculating costs between point A and point B, including approx fuel and total toll costs, based on whether you search for single, same day return or return after 24 hours. The one thing it does better than the NHAI version is that it shows the FASTag toll after cashbacks! Check the attachment.