ICICI Bank aims to double number of FASTags to 4 million in six months

Second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday said it is targeting to double the number of windscreen tags used by vehicles for smooth passage highway tolls, to 4 million in six months.

The lender, which was among the first to get into this segment, now has 2 million FASTag deployed in the market, it said in a statement. The tags were launched in order to make the passage of vehicles across toll plazas smoother, which will cut journey times and also save fuel. Axis Bank and State Bank of India are the other lenders offering the service.

The tag has a RFID chip on board, which becomes the unique identity of a vehicle and helps in toll collection. The ICICI Bank statement claimed it commands more than half of the market share in terms of the tags, and over 60 per cent in terms of value.

The bank said in September, it witnessed 15.4 million transactions totaling Rs 395 crore being undertaken by its 2 million customers. Its head for unsecured assets Sudipta Roy said it was the first to launch the service on the MumbaiVadodara corridor and pegged the total market opportunity at Rs 20,000 crore.

"With the current mandate of making FASTag mandatory for all toll plazas, we aim to double our portfolio to 4 million FASTag in next six months," he said, adding it will be tying up with e-commerce portals to achieve the target.