The ministry of road transport and highways has made it mandatory for all vehicles to have FASTags and the same will be enforced from December 1 on all highways in India. The government is currently busy converting all toll lanes to FASTag-supporting counters and hybrid lanes are being set up at most tolls currently.

While the move is hoped to bring down traffic jams, one may predict hiccups as not all toll booths in the country have shifted to FASTag. Notably, any vehicle missing its FASTag sticker will have to pay double the toll as penalty.

FASTag, which employs Radio Frequency Identification technology and is operated by the National Highway Authority of India. A vehicle that has the FASTag stuck to its windscreen need not stop at a toll plaza: The toll would be deducted from a predefined bank account even as the vehicle is on the move. The electronic toll collection will be done under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme.

According to the highways ministry, more than 6 million FASTags were issued till September, with overall cumulative ETC collection of over ₹12,850 crore since inception. The ICICI, the second biggest private bank in the race, had recently made known plans to double the number of FASTags to 4 million in six months. According to data from NHAI, at least 1.1 million FASTag transactions, amounting to a whopping 30 crore, takes place every day. FASTags are already fitted on commercial vehicles and the vehicles manufactured after 2016.

You can buy FASTags online and through branches of several banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and the Axis Bank. Besides these and select toll plazas on the highways, you can also pick up a FASTag on Amazon.