[sgiitk]

I think all cars will soon with Fastags. The mechanism for recharge has to be smoothed. With push towards cashless transactions it may be necessary whether we like it or not.I personally do not like it. However, a 15-20% discount may change my mind.

[Rajeevraj]

Good decision and hope it gets implemented soon. I agree that the implementation needs to be smoothened out, but there is no point building good highways and expressways when all the time benefits are lost at toll plazas. The toll experience definitely has to be speedened up and streamlined. Since fastag has been identified as the way towards this and is working fairly level, makes sense to take it to the next level and iron out the critical issues along the way.

[atlantis0965]

Hello


The system when started was voluntary and it was always mentioned in the website that it would probably be made mandatory.
It is really a boon in many of the National Highways especially in toll plazas where the dedicated lanes are well marked and controlled.

Infact ever since i started using it i have thankfully stopped collecting coins in smaller denominations to keep handy in the toll purse !

Issues regarding complaint procedures etc.. need streamlining. i have had to complain many times to get the details in the account changed to the correct vehicle details even though the recharge and deductions are happening correctly.

Beware of plazas where the toll attendants might actually also try and take cash from you ; like in the toll plaza on the Maduravoyal Bypass in chennai.

[null]

They are allowing both, with fastag & without one, into the lanes these days. The purpose of having fastag - able to zip through, without having to wait in the queue - is lost. Even if there is a dedicated lane, there is enough mess with checking the tag etc.

Unless they resolve the issues of
1. Tag not working situations
2. Ensuring smooth passage without getting blocked by non-tag vehicles

This will remain a pain IMO.

[TheStranger]

This is no longer a rumour, it has actually been made mandatory.

My new Swift (MY02/19) had the Fasttag incuded in its On-road price. When I rasied this point at the dealership, I was confirmed that it has been made mandatory for all new vehicle purchases.

[nick.cs]

Great initiative but I am not sure how the government plan to eliminate the cash lane altogether in 5 months. It may create chaos

[driven646]

Been using Fastags on all my vehicles for over a year now and am satisfied with their utility.

My usage is in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR and the Jammu region and I've never had a problem at any Toll Plaza - the only irritant being non Tag cars getting into the Tag only lanes and holding up traffic.

My native Himachal has no Toll collection as of now but there are major road expansions underway that will shortly commence Toll collections.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

However, a 15-20% discount may change my mind.

This is how discounts might work, they will increase the toll price by at least 5-10% every year and will give us discounts from the increased price.

[aabhimanyu04]

Originally Posted by rajathv8

I have been keeping an eye on Fastag for a while and have not got one as folks have reported that it does not always work well. There have been reports about the fastag lanes not working and at times fastag lanes taking longer than cash lanes..

I live in Bangalore and do a lot of drives down south; I must admit that the FasTag implementation is not anywhere upto the mark but still saves a significant bit of time.

For the following benefits I would like to stick to the not so perfect FasTag:

1. I can load money onto FasTag at the start of my trip and be stress free without the need of pulling out exact change every time.
2. FasTag creates time stamps which help me understand my trip time, total number of toll plazas from point A to B and the expenditure.
3. In case you dont find yourself aligned to FasTag lane, sweat not, these regular lanes also carry a FasTag scanner that let you use your FasTag.
4. You also get a promotional cashback on tolls using Paytm (this is not a big advantage but some usable money is welcome)

[SJM1214]

This is a good decision. Nowadays most of the toll booths (In GUJ) are hybrid or they have handheld tag reader. Implementation at toll plaza doesn't sound a big issue. However, the car owner's awareness and willingness are the most important factors for the smooth implementation of this decision. I have noticed many people arguing at the toll booth about their tag's balance or it's active or not.

[libranof1987]

I've been traveling intercity every week in an office cab for some time now; none of them have Fastag. Checked with the driver today; the problem is the famed "process". The cab agencies reimburse their drivers for toll only upon submission of receipts. My driver today mentioned how he lost out on reimbursements earlier because his agency did not accept Fastag payment SMSs or even a Fastag account statement.

I imagine things will change once Fastag is made mandatory for all vehicles; but the above instance just highlights the amount of blockers for non-mandatory adoption.

[CarJunki]

My experience with FASTag has been a mixed bag. Being an early adopter I get the tag from ICICI. Setup and configuration all worked like a charm. The tag was home delivered in less than a day. So all good with ICICI.

I made few trips using the facility. Used it for Bangalore-Goa and Blr-Chennai routes.
The problem started few months later when suddenly money was deducted from card showing transaction at krishnagiri toll when car was parked at Bangalore in a basement.
Funny enough a similar deduction happened a few weeks later.

I raised a complaint with ICICI and they said these are valid deductions.
That was the last time i added any money to FASTag. It has been more than 2 years blacklisted now.

As a customer you have no recourse and for such small amounts I can not put energy to take legal action.

[ant_vas]

Have been using FastTag for over 2 years now. Got mine from Equitas bank. The process of aquiring the tag was simple and fast but the experience of using it has not been so great.

At almost every toll booth the tag is hardly read automatically. Most of the times the booth attendant has to use the handheld reader. Even though I have stuck the tag in the center of the windscreen but I personally feel that the right place is to the top right corner.

The queues at the FastTag lanes at most of the toll booth are longer than the cash lanes! had to wait more time than cash paying vehicles. Some vehicle which would be ahead of me would be doing back and forth to have its tag read

Hope with all lanes becoming FastTag lane from 1 Dec 2019, I expect the behavior to improve and we can zoom through the toll booths faster.

[gopal.nishant89]

Ideally, there needs to be a change at 2 levels for this move to be beneficial for end users:
1 - enabling FASTag capability in all lanes across toll booths (this is more of an infrastructure level change)
2- for toll booths with dedicated FASTag lanes (other than the regular hybrid lanes), ensuring non-FASTag users dont push themselves into the dedicated lanes by issuing threats to the guards (this is an implementation issue)

The first is more of a mass scale activity, which will happen with an infrastructure update but the second is where the issue lies and which i have faced and seen many FASTag users face on a daily basis.

Since dedicated FASTag lanes are manned by guards and they have fewer cars at present at any point in time, people go close to the barricade and ill treat the guards and force them to let them through. We cant blame the guards for giving into pressure and letting such people through because after all, they are human at the end of the day.

Because the difficult part is changing the attitude of people towards such beneficial implementations, there should be a change in the way to let people enter these lanes. Have something like an automated barricade which scans your Tag and lets you enter such lanes. This can ensure that people in the above example are stuck while trying to force enter a lane (and in-turn get honked from all sides for creating a jam), which will also serve as an example for onlookers who want to try the stunt the next time round.

[tuhin11]

Got mine installed through PAYTM and hassle free. Works well but the tolls are a pain when vehicles without one enters and builds into an argument with the attenders. Criminal waste of time. The implementation seems a far cry.