New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to make FASTag mandatory for buying new third-party motor insurance for your car with effect from April 1, 2021. The ministry also proposed to make FASTag mandatory four-wheelers sold before December 2017 from January 1, 2021 onwards.
A government issued a statement said, ‘Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified draft notification GSR 541 (E) dated 1st September 2020 to seek comments and suggestions from the stakeholders on making FASTag mandatory for old vehicles sold before 1st December 2017’.
Further, ‘it is proposed to make having a valid FASTag mandatory while getting a new 3rd party insurance (through an amendment in the certificate of Insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID shall be captured. This is proposed to be put in force w.e.f. 1 April 2021’.
What are FASTags?
As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, FASTag had been made mandatory since 2017 for registration of new four-wheeled Vehicles and is to be supplied by the Vehicle Manufacturer or their dealers.
FASTags are prepaid rechargeable tags used for collecting tolls which allows automatic payment deduction from the Tag. The tag is normally affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle. It is more like scanning bar code. The toll free will be deducted from the bank account or prepaid walked linked to it. If you have fastag you don’t need to stop at toll plaza. An activated FASTtag works on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.