West Bengal NH toll plazas ready for FASTag: Official

All the 15 toll plazas of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in West Bengal are ready for implementation of FASTag from December 15, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC), an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeks to ensure seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee as per notified rates, using passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

The Ministry had announced that from December 1, toll payments on highways would be accepted only through FASTags, later extending the deadline to December 15.

"All the 17 toll plazas under my command, including 15 in West Bengal and one each in Jharkhand and Odisha, are ready with the requisite infrastructure for FASTag," NHAI Bengal Chief General Manager (CGM) R P Singh told PTI.

While the NHAI will continue to operate at least one 'cash lane' in each toll plaza, vehicles entering the FASTag lanes without the tags will have to pay double the toll, the official said.

Singh said he couldn't speak on the number of such tags being sold in the state as several agencies are involved in the selling.

"We are distributing FASTags for free at all the toll plazas but some banks are also selling them," he said.

Several banks are selling the tags at prices ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 100, sources said.

One has to link the FASTags with a payment gateway or a bank for usage.

All the available mode of recharges such as debit card, credit card, net banking and Unified Payments Interface have been enabled for loading money to the FASTag account.

The NHAI has started helpline number '1033' for any assistance regarding FASTag.

The Dhulagarh toll plaza in Howrah district is the busiest in the state, with an average of 45,000 to 46,000 vehicles crossing it every day, followed by the one at Palsit in East Burdwan district, which witnesses daily traffic of around 40,000 vehicles, NHAI officials said.