The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said the transaction count of FASTag under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program has crossed 31 million in October 2019. A vehicle with FASTag does not need to stop at toll plazas for cash transactions, saving fuel and time. NPCI said in October 2019 the transaction count of FASTag stood at 31.46 million with transaction value Rs 702.86 crore, compared to a transaction count of 29.01 million and a transaction value of Rs 658.94 crore in September 2019. Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI said FASTag has been one of NPCI’s primary focus and in less than 2 years it has become truly interoperable. Today, there are 23 member banks that issue FASTag and 10 member banks that acquire FASTag transactions and the system is live on 528+ toll plazas across the country. FASTag is also venturing into the state highways as well as city toll plazas enabling digital toll payment facility to local city residents as well, she added. From 1 December 2017, all new cars come with pre-activated FASTags. A FASTag can also be purchased at select toll plazas, select bank branches, retail PoS locations / issuer bank website and online through e-commerce platforms. It is soon going to be available at petrol pumps and later these might be used as a medium for buying petrol and paying parking fees. FASTag is mandatory from 1 December 2019 at all National Highway toll plazas. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank said it has crossed a milestone of issuing 2 million FASTag till date, the most by any financial institution in the country. The bank aims to double the number in next six months. The bank is leader in the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) market in terms of value as well as volume. It commands more than half of the market share in terms of the number of transactions on FASTag. In terms of value, the bank’s share is even higher, at 60% of the market.
