FASTag annual pass price to go up from 1 April: Check NHAI's new fees and benefits

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had announced earlier this month that it will be hiking the annual FASTag prices and that deadline is about to come into effect in a few days. The new prices kick off from 1 April, leaving frequent travellers just a few days time to get their subscriptions at the existing prices.

What are the new FASTag charges?

Under the revised fee structure, the cost of the FASTag annual pass will increase by ₹75, bringing the total from the current ₹3,000 to ₹3,075 since the start of the new financial year.

The new rate applies specifically to non-commercial vehicles that are equipped with a valid FASTag.

The pass can used across approximately 1,150 fee plazas on National Highways and National Expressways across the country.

What is FASTag annual pass? What are its benefits?

FASTag annual pass was launched in August last year and is aimed at eliminating the need to frequently recharge FASTag for frequent travellers. The scheme offers a prepaid one-time payment option for private non-commercial vehicles like cars, jeeps or vans.
After the annual pass recharge, travellers can get cashless travel through NHAI toll plazas for one year or 200 trips, whichever comes first.

The annual pass is especially useful for people who travel from city to city such as those travelling within NCR, and individuals who frequently make trips to their hometowns

NHAI says the pass has seen widespread adoption since its launch and has already amassed a user base of over 56 lakh people.

How to rechage FASTag annual pass?

The FASTag annual pass recharge can be done via the the Rajmarg Yatra App or the official NHAI website. Once the one-time fee is paid, the annual pass gets activated on the vehicle's existing FASTag within two hours.

With the new fees structure set to come into effect from 1st April, frequent commuters have just a couple of days left to make the recharge at the old price.

What is FASTag?

FASTag is a mandatory electronic toll collection system which uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to let users automatically pay toll charges automatically without stopping at toll plazas. A FASTag sticker with an RFID chip is stuck on the vehicle's windhield, which is then scanned by the toll plaza to automatically deduct toll charges.

The RFID sticker is linked to bank account or waller of the user, and once the toll charges are deducted they get a message about each transaction.