Can you 'Fastag' around India from Dec 1? TOI finds out

Sat Nov 16 13:32:00 IST 2019

The December 1 deadline for converting all lanes barring one at National Highways (NH) toll plazas into fastag lanes is fast approaching, but TOI finds the country is far from ready for it.

‘This is a state highway, you’ll have to pay cash’

Every day when I drive down Delhi's Tilak Marg on my way to work, I stop at the Pragati Maidan traffic signal.

A hoarding of ministry of road transport and highways on the Metro corridor overhead proclaims that from December 1, 2019, all toll payments on national highways will be done only through fastags. Who won’t welcome the prospect of zooming through toll booths instead of waiting in a queue and then fumbling for change with the boom barrier down!

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So, when we planned a trip to Agra on the Diwali weekend, I decided to buy a fastag. There are many available on e-commerce platforms and you just need to order it. However, the price you pay varies because of security and initial balance. I got it from HDFC and loaded it for the entire trip. I took care to affix the fastag on the windscreen behind my rear view mirror and was all set to go.

You may wonder why I would get a fastag for a state highway. Well, the website of the Yamuna Expressway Authority spells it out very clearly. It says: “You have multiple options to pay...To ensure a smoother drive, please do register yourself for a smart tag. Pay the requisite amount and exit the lane.” That’s exactly what I did, with a twist, and not so fast.

Getting to the expressway through Kalindi Kunj on a Saturday morning was a breeze. For a driver who plays by the rules, this expressway is a dream. Drive in the middle lane and stick to the speed limit of 100. Overtake from the right and slide back into the middle lane. Let the speed devils pass. In just about an hour, we were within a few hundred metres of the Jewar toll gate.

Sight of the booth from a distance filled me with dread. It was enveloped in a huge cloud of dust which rose from some ongoing road construction work. And stretching from every collection booth was a long queue of vehicles, moving at a snail’s pace. Frayed tempers and desperate manoeuvres to get ahead were on full display. I realised soon that it would take us at least half-an-hour to go through the toll plaza.

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Two men had been deployed to hand out tokens which could then be exchanged for the actual receipts at the booth. I asked one of the guys, “ Bhai, fastag ka kya hua? Kaam nahin kar raha

?” (What happened to the fastag. Isn’t it working?). The man smiled, “ Fastag? Aisa to kuch nahin hai.” (There is no such thing here). " Gadkari ji ne kaha hai December 1 se must hai,” (Gadkari has said it is a must from December 1), I persisted. “ Yeh state highway hai, Gadkariji kuch bhi bolen,” he replied. As I had anticipated, it took us about 30 minutes to reach the booth, adding to our journey time.

There was no such pile-up at the other booths but no fastag either. In fact, the next toll booth had “Fastag” lanes where you paid in cash. I could see my wife looking at me mockingly for having taken this fastag business so seriously.

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But this country never stops surprising you. We drove to Fatehpur Sikri from Agra – having had our fill of the Taj Mahal – through a maze of congested lanes and bylanes that made even Google dizzy. At the Kiraoli toll plaza on NH-11 near Sikri, I paid in cash. While driving back through the same toll plaza, I paid once again but the operator this time exclaimed, “ Arre, aapke paas kya fastag hai?” (Do you have a fastag?) I said, “Yes.” He said the amount had got automatically deducted and he was reversing the transaction since I had paid in cash. How would I have known since I paid in cash the first time too? And if the fastag was working, why was I made to pay in cash and couldn’t just sail through? Well, the road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari minister may have the answers.

Subhendu Mukherjee

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‘Your tag has been blacklisted’

One of the two entry lanes leading to the Eastern Peripheral Highway near Ghaziabad is blocked and over half-a-dozen cars are queued up as the person manning the entry gate notes down registration numbers. The glass panel announces that only fastags will be accepted from December. It is the morning of November 6.

What about today? “Your tag is blacklisted,” said the booth operator. When we asked the reason for the “blacklisting”, he replied: “Often the signal is not captured. We call it blacklisting.”

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While we keep cash ready at the toll plaza near Murthal, the exit is smooth as the boom barrier opens within seconds of the vehicle approaching it. A few kilometres down the road on National Highway 44, a familiar queue greeted us at the Bhagan toll plaza. While the number of payment counters have increased in the last few months and every lane can now accept cash and fastag, the chaos has not ended. As we approach the toll booth, we inform the operator that the vehicle has the RFID tag and we drive past with Rs 70 deducted from the account.

The next toll plaza near Panipat is a smooth, uninterrupted ride as we take the lane dedicated for fastags. But that's after the steel barricade is manually removed to ensure that only vehicles with fastags enter the lane. We are greeted with familiar chaos at the next toll gate in Gharounda, a few kilometres ahead of Karnal. The boom barrier is missing but the booth operator lets us go once we inform him about the vehicle sporting a fastag.

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Months after TOI highlighted the problems, NHAI and toll operators have failed to address them although the plan is to move to a digital system in the next fortnight. At one of the toll plazas, the boom barrier refuses to open. The booth operator suggests helpfully that we can move the car forward for the RFID reader to scan the sticker attached to the vehicle’s windshield.

At another toll plaza, one of the fastag lanes was being used by schoolchildren as a short cut to their homes as cars and trucks piled up. The toll plaza workers also did not react to this violation, which appeared to be a daily routine. Though all new cars are supposed to have it, the number of drivers, especially with private vehicles, using it hasn’t gone up.

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The drive to Karnal and back was evidence enough that the country isn’t prepared to fully roll out fastags for all vehicles by December.

Sidhartha & Surojit Gupta

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Special officers at toll plazas, camps to boost sale

With barely a fortnight left for 100% electronic toll collection across national highways, the National Highways Authority of India is appointing one officer at each toll plaza to monitor the progress. Senior officers are also being deployed as Central Prabhari Officers for each state.

The officers will visit toll plazas between November 17 and December 10 and submit status reports.

The move was prompted after ground reports suggested that fastag transactions were smooth only in 180 of the 400 toll plazas where all lanes have been enabled to process payment using smart tags, an NHAI official told TOI. Efforts are also being made to address technical glitches that mar the experience. “We have brought 100 more toll plazas under 100% e-tolling in three months, taking the count to 400, and another 90-100 will be covered next week,” another official said.

For those exempted from paying user fees, fastags will be home-delivered. Vehicles driven by disabled drivers, emergency vehicles as well as those transporting and officially accompanying 25 dignitaries — including President, Prime Minister, chief justices of Supreme Court and high courts, Union ministers, chief ministers, judges of supreme court and high courts, defence chiefs and members of Parliament — are exempted from paying user fees for fastags. A new portal will allow them to submit details and get fastags delivered at home.

The government has also allowed 23 banks and financial institutions authorised to issue fastags to hold camps for their sale.

NHAI officials said that a massive campaign has been launched to inform vehicle owners about the new norm through advertisements including in regional languages.

Dipak Dash

Photos: Indranil Das

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