[hserus]

Originally Posted by NPV

There are 3 tolls - Hoskote (just after KR Puram), Mulbagal and another one near the state border on the Karnataka side.

Not sure about Fastag on this route (remember seeing it at Hoskote), don't remember since it is a long time since I traveled on this route.

Hoskote / Kolar / Mulbagal do have fastags. However in more than one case the fastag lane might be choked with trucks, or thrown open to all traffic - especially closer to Bangalore during times when there is traffic congestion.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Planning a Bangalore - Tirupati trip next week. Couple of queries:

1. How many tolls are there on the BLR - Chittoor - Tirupati route?

2. Are they FASTag-enabled? If so, are they clearly signposted?

Originally Posted by audioholic

There are three tolls. Hoskote, Mulbagal(Little while after Kolar) and Nangli(end of the beautiful road at KA border). The toll at Nangli is beautifully maintained, with clean booths and a clean restroom. All three tolls have Fastag and it is strictly followed. While in Hoskote, the Fastag lanes are immediate to the median, the other two tolls have it at the either ends of the lanes. It is clearly marked and visible. After that, the road becomes a narrow two lane road which has no tolls, or rather not worthy of one.

+1 to audioholic.
I'm a regular on this route. My last trip was on 13th August from AP side to Bangalore. All 3 tolls have working fastag lanes and are clearly marked. Fastag should be most helpful in Hoskote toll in terms of time-saved.



Repeating what others have mentioned before in this thread:
Post KA-AP border, the road becomes 2-lane undivided section almost all the way to Tirupati (4-lanes with divider crops up very close to Tirupati). But road quality is good. There will be trucks, KSRTC and APSRTC buses in this section. Also, you are likely to encounter town traffic in and around Palamner, Bangarupalem and Chittoor towns. Be careful with your overtaking manoeuvres. Also, there are couple of railway level crossings after Chitoor. Be more careful in this 2-lane section after sunset (watch out for high-beam menace).
Good luck and have a safe journey.

Originally Posted by NPV

There are 3 tolls - Hoskote (just after KR Puram), Mulbagal and another one near the state border on the Karnataka side.
.....
The site is not yet updated with the 3rd toll (Nangli) at the Karnataka-Andhra border, it shows just Hoskote and Mulbagal.

It is called Gaddurur Toll plaza actually and is present in NHAI website/map. Though the nearest town on KA side is called Nangalli

[NPV]

Originally Posted by srvm

It is called Gaddurur Toll plaza actually and is present in NHAI website/map. Though the nearest town on KA side is called Nangalli

What I meant was on that site when you look for tolls between two places - Bangalore-Chittoor in this case, it only comes up with 2 of them Hoskote and Mulbagal.

[hserus]

Update -

My ticket was escalated to the agency that manages Fastags for Axis, Sahaj eVillage.

They emailed me, and asked me to transfer Rs.223 as charges for a replacement, and gave their bank details. I transferred this using UPI (Phonepe, much better than the Bhim app as it supports multiple bank accounts) and gave them my address.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a courier with my replacement tag.

Originally Posted by hserus

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.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by srvm

Be more careful in this 2-lane section after sunset (watch out for high-beam menace).
Good luck and have a safe journey.

Amazing our forum is . Thank you all.

Been a long time since we last did dusk/night driving on an undivided 2 lane. Not at all looking forward to it, especially due to the expected heavy traffic + my Octy's unimpressive HIDs.

Unfortunately, our darshan timing is 1500, so by the time we are done, we will have to face the full brunt of the 'rush-hour' evening traffic including ST buses.

I've got negative replies on the BLR-Tirupati thread, but given the ETD (~1800) from Tirupati, is there any use trying the Chintamani route? I live in north BLR.

[hserus]

You are well advised to take a bus given the tight timelines involved and as you say you haven't done too much night driving on two lane roads.

Night driving down that road is tiring because the tourist bus traffic gets much higher, and then you have the Tirupati ghat road (thankfully one way up and a different way down) as well as a small ghat section on the way back.

[CAPTAIN REX]

Originally Posted by hserus

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.

Was the toll amount deducted from your account after the 'hand held scanner' detected the Fastag ?

The same happened to me. I had a Fastag issued by Axis bank. Got it couriered by the agents in Madurai after mailing them all the required documentation and transferring the amount.
The tag came in a day, but never really worked.
It was not detected by any of the overhead scanners on the Chennai to Bangalore route, although I had topped up Rs 1000/ into my Fastag account. The same drill followed at all booths - go back, come forward, angle car to right, angle to left, and then finally pay in cash to pass.
I was let off twice at TOLL booths using the handheld scanner, but nothing was deducted from my account upon checking. Guess those guys would have thought their scanning machines were faulty, not really knowing the truth.

Originally Posted by hserus

Update -

My ticket was escalated to the agency that manages Fastags for Axis, Sahaj eVillage.

They emailed me, and asked me to transfer Rs.223 as charges for a replacement, and gave their bank details. I transferred this using UPI (Phonepe, much better than the Bhim app as it supports multiple bank accounts) and gave them my address.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a courier with my replacement tag.

After the above incident, I called up the agency at Madurai. The lady informed me that the tag will be replaced and that I will have to pay Rs 200/ plus the courier charges for the new tag. I told them that I am not going to pay a second time for a card which was not working in the first place, and highlighted the issue over a nasty mail to Axis Bank customer care, and copied all the addresses, that I could google and find, of the top brass in Axis Bank.
Within a day things start moving. I get a call from some one from Mumbai, and I am informed that the tag will be replaced very soon without any additional costs. On day 2 I get a call from an Axis Bank rep in Chennai saying the tag is ready and asked for my address. The car was in Speed Motors, Adyar for minor tinkering and polishing. Gave him the address of the workshop. The guy went to the workshop, removed the old one, and affixed the new tag. No additional charges.

And since then the new tag has been working flawlessly. The initial amount from the old tag was transferred to the new one, or rather the new tag was registered to my old and existing Fastag account. I have added this Fastag account to my list of beneficiaries on my netbanking, so recharging is instantaneous and hassle free.

https://youtu.be/lT7gq808FPg

[hserus]

In my case, only the single toll where the handheld scanner detected it was debited from my fastag.

Let us see how the replacement works.

[vidyanand]

Have applied for HDFC FasTag by sending all docs as mentioned by them with payment details to esahaj email but no action so far in 1 week.
I did call the customer care 2-3 times but they keep saying we have more application and will be done today or tomorrow. Although they are polite and told me that the process is simple but they need time to take care of all the requests they received.

Any other email/customer care number to expedite this process?
Numbers Called so far:
1800-120-1243 , 9910410669 , 9910410166

[batman]

Saw today in 'The Hindu', an advertisement for Fastag; It also said the app 'My Fastag' has been released in both IOS & Android.

Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...com.fastaguser

IOS:
https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/my-f...268988275?mt=8

Had a look at the few reviews about this app in Google playstore, which indicated that the App is primitive and a lot needs to be improved / incorporated.

Anyhow, a good initiative; Hope this app gets better in the near future.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by vidyanand

Have applied for HDFC FasTag by sending all docs as mentioned by them with payment details to esahaj email but no action so far in 1 week.

I had done the same in HDFC but got fed up waiting for 2 weeks with no action. So I went to BETL office and got the IDFC Fast tag. I applied on saturday afternoon and collected on monday morning. If you are working/residing anywhere near Electronic city than this would be a faster process.

[vidyanand]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

So I went to BETL office and got the IDFC Fast tag. I applied on saturday afternoon and collected on monday morning. If you are working/residing anywhere near Electronic city than this would be a faster process.

Thanks, I do live in ECity. Will wait until Friday and if not done, I will go to BETL Office.
Another impossible task will be to get the HDFC payment back if they agree to refund

[srvm]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Amazing our forum is . Thank you all.

Been a long time since we last did dusk/night driving on an undivided 2 lane. Not at all looking forward to it, especially due to the expected heavy traffic + my Octy's unimpressive HIDs.

Unfortunately, our darshan timing is 1500, so by the time we are done, we will have to face the full brunt of the 'rush-hour' evening traffic including ST buses.

I've got negative replies on the BLR-Tirupati thread, but given the ETD (~1800) from Tirupati, is there any use trying the Chintamani route? I live in north BLR.

Agree with hserus here. Try going by bus to Tirupati. Or take a night break at Tirupati before starting to drive back to Bangalore next morning.
Avoid the Madanapalle-Chintamani-Hoskote route since it is completely 2-lane and would definitely take more time and effort.

[sdp1975]

I need to change my windshield as it has cracked from a stone hit. What's the best way to remove the fastag sticker from the old windshield and fix it on the new one ? Soak it in water and then peel it off ? I hope it's not going to damage the tag.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I need to change my windshield as it has cracked from a stone hit. What's the best way to remove the fastag sticker from the old windshield and fix it on the new one ? Soak it in water and then peel it off ? I hope it's not going to damage the tag.

You cannot remove Fasttag once you stick it ,without damaging it. You can approach your bank with picture of damaged windshield and ask for replacement. Try to call helpline to check what is the exact process.

The other thing which I noticed with Fasttag is that if your account has insufficient balance, for eg only 70 rs whereas toll is 115, fasttag still allows you to pass through, but shows negative balance on your account.

With this if you try to pass another toll, your account gets blacklisted which can be removed by adding balance again.