Major toll plazas in Mumbai now on FASTag platform, Dahisar to go live soon

After Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link plaza and Vashi toll plaza, three more major toll plazas in Mumbai – - Airoli, Mulund Eastern Express Way and Mulund (LBS Marg) -- have gone live on National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) FASTag platform. The toll plaza in Dahisar is currently working on implementing FASTag and is expected to go live soon.

“ICICI Bank is the first bank to integrate with the FASTag technology at plazas at Vashi, Airoli, Mulund Eastern Express Way, Mulund (LBS Marg) and Dahisar”, NPCI said in a statement. “The bank will continue to work closely with MEP Infrastructure, operator of the toll plazas, to bring in the best practices implemented at national highways,” it added.

The Mumbai – Pune expressway toll plaza is already on the FASTag platform and has, recently, migrated to latest technological specifications. Currently, more than 720 toll plazas across the country are live on the FASTag platform.

FASTag is a device that employs radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion. FASTag (RFID Tag) is attached on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables a customer to make the toll payments directly from the account which is linked to FASTag. It offers convenience of cashless payments along with the benefit of not stopping at the toll plaza.

Vijay Waghmare JMD, MSRDC said, “This will make Mumbai the first city to go completely cashless across all tolls. Our next step is to increase the penetration of FASTags. This digital transformation will introduce transparency and ensure complete contactless and safe travel for the commuter”.

“Implementation of FASTag on nearly all the toll plazas of Mumbai demonstrates awareness and acceptance of FASTag among millions of commuters,” said Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI.

With major entry points in the city going live on the platform, NPCI is hoping that parking lots in the city will gradually adopt smart and contactless parking on the platform, which was launched a few months ago, at the Hyderabad International Airport. According to NPCI, this system is now playing a significant role in reducing queues at the entry and exits of parking lots, thereby offering convenient parking payment experience to customers.

In November, FASTag reported a transaction count of 124.88 million, accounting for Rs 2,102 crore. The transaction count of FASTag has been steadily increasing since its huge drop in April due to the pandemic induced lockdown. In October, it clocked 122.36 million transactions worth Rs 2,137.16 crore, surpassing pre-covid levels. In February, FASTag had recorded a little over 110 million transactions worth Rs 1,841.22 crore. As of November, 27 banks are live on NETC and the number of tag issuances has topped 21 million.