Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Expansion Of Fastag Ecosystem
Posted On:
06 AUG 2025 6:24PM by PIB Delhi
The Government through Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has progressively strengthened the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for detecting and blacklisting ‘loose FASTags’. As per the IHMCL’s Policy Circular dated 19th August, 2019, fee plaza operators are required to report such violations to the concerned Acquirer Bank and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The Issuer Bank must verify the case and blacklist the non-compliant FASTag, while IHMCL monitors adherence.
Subsequently, the Circular dated 16th July, 2024, reiterated the provisions of the National Highways Fee Rules, 2008, which mandate that vehicles not fitted with a valid and functional FASTag are to be charged double the applicable fee. The circular draws from the same and specifies that vehicles with non-affixed FASTags would also fall under this category and must pay the fee in cash at double the applicable rate, thereby enforcing deterrence.
To streamline enforcement, the Circular dated 26th June, 2025 introduced a structured reporting format requiring fee collecting agencies to submit weekly data to etc.operations@ihmcl.com. Based on these reports, IHMCL directs NPCI to initiate blacklisting.
Directives have been issued to all fee collecting agencies and concessionaires from time-to-time regarding ‘loose FASTag’ or ‘Tag-in- hand.
The Government is actively engaging stakeholders to expand the FASTag ecosystem. In this regard, a Fintech Workshop was organized on 25th June, 2025 bringing together stakeholders including banks, fintechs, NPCI, payment service providers, and tolling system operators to deliberate on expanding FASTag use cases and interoperability of FASTag across services.
The workshop discussions focused on broadening the utility of FASTag into areas such as fuel payments, EV charging, parking, congestion tolling, etc. Integration of value-added services, data-driven solutions for mobility, and user-centric digital features were discussed to position FASTag as a unified digital mobility platform aimed at improving convenience, efficiency, and transparency across the transport sector.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
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SR/GDH/SB
(Release ID: 2153224)
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