If there is anything one cannot deny about
India is the traffic one braves daily. Driving through the traffic is nerve-wracking.
Many people travel to different parts of the city for getting their work done
every day and all this by being stuck in traffic for long hours. It is worse if
you need to pass through the toll. Well, it is a thing of past, thanks to a
facility called FASTag. So, what is all about and how does it work?
What is FASTag?
Launched by the Indian Government under the
National Electronic Toll Collection Program, FASTag employs the
Radio Frequency Identification Technology, allowing the drivers on State and
National Highways to make toll payments without needing to stop at the toll
plaza. You can fix the FASTag on your vehicle windscreen and pass through them
swiftly. You need to, however, recharge the tag from time to time.
How
does it work?
Now
that you are aware of what is FASTag toll plaza, following points explain how
the system works –
Details
captured: Several State and Indian National Highways are equipped with
Electronic Toll Collection lanes. Whenever a vehicle passes through the lane,
the plaza system captures standard information included in the tag affixed on
the windscreen. These details are then sent to the insurer hosts for completion
of the process.
Monitors
tag details: The bank then sends a request to NETC Mapper, and the information
gets monitored. The Tag ID gets validated and the NETC Mapper responds with
information such as tag status, VRN, vehicle class, and so forth. If the TAG ID
does not get monitored, the NETC Mapper responds with the message ‘Tag ID not
registered.’
Toll
fare calculated: Once the Tag ID gets successfully registered by the NETC
Mapper, the acquirer calculates the toll fare and a debit request gets sent to
the NETC system. The system switches the debit requests to the issuing bank,
and the toll amount gets debited from the user’s account.
Sum
gets debited: Here, the acquirer hosts debit the toll amount from the FASTag
holder’s account that is linked to the system. You receive an SMS alert once
the debit is done. The issuer host also sends a message to the primary NETC
system. If the response by the issuer hosts not submitted within the
turn-around time, the transaction gets accepted.
Final notification: After accepting the
toll amount, the NETC system notifies the response concerning the transaction
to the acquiring host, who communicates the respective FASTag toll plaza
system.
