© 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 [Link].

org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

AN INTRODUCTION TO FASTag: A GAME

CHANGER IN AUTOMATIC TOLL
COLLECTION SYSTEMS IN INDIA.
1
[Link]
1
Assistant Professor
1
Computer Science,
1
Indian Academy Group of Institutions, Bangalore, India

Abstract: This paper outlines the challenges encountered by conventional toll collection systems in India and brings
out the need for having an automated toll collection system such as FASTag, a program rolled out by National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for Electronic Toll Collection on National Highways.
Key words: Toll Collection System, RFID, FASTag, Traffic Management, Toll plaza.

1. INTRODUCTION:

India is a country with the second largest road network in the world. Out of the total stretch of 5.4 million km of
road network, almost 97,991 km is covered by national highways. The National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI), a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is responsible for the maintenance and the
expansion of the highways.
Travelling on these state/national highways also known as toll roads require a tax to be paid called the Toll Tax. The
government spends the taxes collected by means of toll roads usage on the maintenance of these roads so that the
drivers and the riders can travel comfortably.
The challenges associated with the conventional tolling process are as follows:
 Limited number of toll booths leading to slow toll collection process
 Slow toll collection process at the toll booths results in a minimum of 10 minutes average waiting time per
vehicle
 Fuel wastage due to long waiting time at the toll plaza
 Air pollution
 Verbal arguments and physical fights among impatient travellers and the toll attendants.
 Toll plaza accidents which happen due to the sudden lane changing by drivers for faster clearance.
 Wastage of time at booths has a negative impact on transport sector as well as the whole economy. A 2016
study by IIM, Calcutta said the country suffers losses of nearly Rs 40,000 crore per year due to delays in
transportation. The study also highlighted that, the delays led to consumption of fuel worth Rs 90,000 crore.

These limitations in the conventional toll collection systems called for an immediate revamp in the Indian toll
collection machinery. Thus, a step in this direction was taken by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), a
nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by introducing “FASTag” which employs Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and provides for seamless movement of FASTag affixed vehicles at
toll plazas.
Such type of highway tag brands are in operation in many developed countries of the west and are known by different
names like Eazee Pass, SunPass in the US, e-Pass in Australia, Salik in Dubai etc.

1.1 FASTag:

FASTag is a simple reloadable tag which allows for automatic deduction of toll charges without having to stop at
the toll plazas for making the payments. This tag is affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen and works on the Radio-
frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Initially set up as a pilot project on the stretch of the Golden
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Quadrilateral between Ahmedabad and Mumbai in 2014, the system was implemented on the Delhi-Mumbai arm of
the Quadrilateral on 4 November 2014(Joshi, 2017).
At present, FASTag is operational at 240+ toll plazas across National Highways.
The customer must visit any of the Point of Sale (POS) locations at Toll Plazas / Issuer Agency to get his FASTag
account created by paying a onetime fee of ₹ 200.
FASTag account is procured by making a payment through cheque or online through Credit Card/ Debit Card/
NEFT/ RTGS or through Net Banking. FASTag account can be recharged upto Rs. 1,00,000.00 (Rupees One Lac
only).
Users can drive their vehicles through the FASTag lanes at the toll plazas after recharging their FASTag accounts
and the toll amount will be automatically deducted from their accounts.
The government has now made it mandatory for all the vehicles manufactured or sold after December 1, 2017 to
have a FASTag.

1.2 WORKING:
Affixed on the wind shield of the vehicle is a unique RFID tag that allows for making toll payments directly from
the bank or prepaid account linked to it.

Figure1. FASTag affixed to the Car’s wind shield

Issuer Agency will electronically deduct the applicable toll fee from the customer’s account linked to the FASTag.
This deduction will be done post the toll transaction. The customer needs to adequately fund the account which is
linked to FASTag. This recharge process may be termed as top-up.
The customer receives an SMS with requisite details to his registered mobile number as soon as the toll transaction
takes place.
Customer will receive an SMS alert in your registered phone number each time an amount is deducted from your
FASTag account. Fee payable on each toll plaza is available on [Link] in addition to being displayed at the
concerned toll plazas.

Periodic statement of account may also be obtained on website of the Issuer Agency after registration by the
customer.

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1.3 RFID TECHNOLOGY:
RFID technology enables a deviceto capture the digital data encoded in RFID tags or smart labels using the radio
waves.
RFID is classified under a broad technology called Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). It uses radio
waves to automatically identify people or objects, collect data about them and enter the collected data directly into
the computer systems with little or no human intervention.

RFID Systems comprises of three components:

i. An RFID tag or a Smart Label
ii. An RFID reader
iii. An Antenna

Figure 2: RFID System.

RFID tags consists of an integrated circuit and an antenna, which are used to transmit data to the RFID reader (also
called an interrogator). The RFID reader then converts the radio waves to a more usable form of data. Information
collected from the tags is then transferred through a communication interface to a host computer system, where the
data can be stored in a database and analysed at a later time (Satyasrikanth P, 2016).
By using RFID technology at every toll plaza, congestion and the long queues of traffic can be avoided which will
automatically result in time saving as well as one will not need to do the payments manually. Also an Electronic
Toll Collection System isable to determine if a car is registered in a toll payment program, and it alerts enforcers of
toll payment violations, and debits the participating account.

2. BENEFITS OF ADOPTING FASTag:

FASTag has brought about several socio-economic and environmental benefits to its participants. The following
table lists the benefits to the road users, the toll operators and the Government.

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Table 1. Benefits of adopting FASTag

BENEFITS OF ADOPTING FASTag:

To the Road Users To the Toll To the Government
Operators

Convenience of Improved lane Improves transparency

cashless payment utilisation of toll transactions

Non-stop motion & Lower operating Savings on fuel,

reduced commute time costs reduction of emissions
Reduced effort in from idling and
management at
toll plaza repeated stops at Toll
Plazas

Cashback* of 5% for Better audit Reduced air pollution

FY – 2018-19 control through
Applicable for trips centralized user
made at NHAI plazas accounts
only

Online Portal for Reduced use of Reduced use of

customers paper
SMS alerts for low paper and reduced
balance and toll toll payment
transactions etc. hassles

3. CHALLENGES FACED BY FASTAG:

 FASTag charge is high for multi-axle vehicles – Multi-axle vehicle owners are hesitant to opt for FASTag
as the toll charges for such vehicles are quite high. A truck requires more than Rs. 2,000 for 10 trips while a
car can make 10 trips at a much lower value. This gives people the ideas for deploying car tags in trucks.

 FASTag may not be approved – When there is no amount in the account, no credit is given to the users.
Then the user has to pay in cash. Moreover, at times, the RFID scanner goes through technical issues, leaving
a FASTag user in a fix to pay the toll amount in cash.

 FASTag can be stolen or lost – Since the FASTag comes in a tag form, it can easily be stolen or lost. In
such a situation, the user must request the agency to block the FASTag account instantly and process re-
issuance.

 FASTag can be wrongly charged – At times, due to technical glitches, a FASTag user may be wrongly
charged. In such a situation, the user is left with the only option to report the matter as soon as he/she comes
to know about it and ask for a reimbursement.

 FASTag may face malfunction or damage – A user must report about the same and ask for a replacement.

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 FASTag faces the issue of discipline at all most every toll plaza – Vehicles without the FASTags enter
the designated lane while the ones with FASTags wait for their turn, behind these vehicles.

 Same lane for electronic toll collection (ETC) and very important person (VIP) – There should be a
dedicated ETC lane at every toll plaza. Not having a dedicated ETC lane means the purpose of FASTag fails
as it causes a delay in the journey of FASTag users.

 National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) does not involve itself in FASTag payments, it has not
provided any software for the same instead, it has authorised several banks to handle them. Since, each bank
is using its own software it has given rise to lot of payment related issues which needs an immediate
rectification.

 FASTag project needs proper monitoring to ensure refunds are made on account of billing errors.

 There is no wholesale package providing discounts or free trips for commercial operators who have multiple
vehicles crossing toll plazas hundreds of times.

 The government must ensure easy availability of FASTags through various channels and also educate
the people on using the dedicated FASTag lanes since the concept is new, it is in a nascent stage in India.

4. COMPARATIVE STUDY: Manual Toll Collection System vs Automated Electronic System

Table 2. Comparison between manual toll collection system and FASTag

Criteria Manual Toll Collection Automated Electronic System

System (FASTag)
Time Consumption More Less
Traffic Congestion More Less
Payment Mode Cash/Debit card/Credit Debit card/Credit
Card Card/NetBanking/Online
Recharge
Air Pollution More Less
Use of Paper More Less
Incentives No incentives A cashback of 10% on all Toll
payments using FASTag
Highway Management Good Better

5. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK:

Although RFID based FASTag is seen as an advantageous mode of toll collection system in India offering numerous
socio-economic and environmental benefits to both – the user and the collector, until its drawbacks or the challenges
are not uprooted to the base, the module shall continue to face serious crunch and may not work as intended. By
designing appropriate solutions to address the challenges faced by FASTag it can be made a technologically superior
mode of toll collection eventually proving itself to be a game changer in automatic toll collection system, in the
years to come. Also, plans are afoot by the Petroleum Ministry and private Oil Marketing Companies that FASTags
could be utilised by consumers for buying petrol at petrol pumps and even for parking facilities.

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REFERENCES
[1] FASTag< [Link]
[2] FASTag <[Link]
[3] RFID<[Link]
[4] RFID<[Link]
[5] FASTag<[Link]
[Link]>
[6] *Bharavi Joshi. “A Comparison study of toll collection systems in India.” International Journal of
Engineering Research and Development,Volume-13,no.11,2017,pp.68-71
[7] FASTag<[Link] >
[8] Toll Plaza<[Link]
[9] FASTag<[Link] [Link]>
[10] Satyasrikanth P et al,”Automatic toll collection system using RFID” International Journal of Computer
Science and Mobile Computing, Volume.5 Issue 8, August-2016,pp.247-253.

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