The road transport ministry has extended the deadline for 100% collection of toll charges on the National Highway (NH) network through FASTag till February 15. Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had announced to completely do away with cash transactions for paying toll charges from January 1.
Currently, the share of transactions by FASTag is hovering around 75-80%. In a communication to NHAI, the ministry has said the highways authority can obtain the needed regulatory requirement from it for ensuring 100% cashless fee collection from February 15. In order to discourage cash transactions at toll plazas, all lanes barring one on each side have been made dedicated “FASTag lanes” and any vehicle entering these lanes without FASTag are liable to pay double the normal toll fee.Earlier, FASTag was made mandatory for all four-wheel vehicles from January 1, 2021. FASTag has become mandatory for M and N class four-wheelers sold before December 1, 2017. For this, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 were amended. The ministry issued a notification regarding this on November 6.
