Representative image (AI)
NEW DELHI: At least one in every five car users on tolled National Highway stretches is now using FASTag Annual Pass to pay the user fee. With an active user base of 36.3 lakh and around 20,000 new buyers being added daily, the scheme has become a runaway success in just three and a half months since its launch, data show.The FASTag Annual Pass, priced at Rs 3,000, allows private car owners to cross 200 toll plazas in a year, effectively bringing down the fee to just Rs 15 per plaza. It has emerged as the most convenient and cost-friendly payment option for inter-city commuters. Data from more than a dozen toll plazas show that over 40% of car users are paying the user fee through the annual pass.“At the national level, nearly 22% of toll transactions for cars are done using the annual pass. The newly operational Bijwasan toll plaza on the Dwarka Expressway in Delhi has the highest share, with more than 50% of such transactions. It is followed by the Mundka toll plaza in Delhi (48.2%) and the Jhinjholi plaza in Sonipat, Haryana, where the share is over 47%,” said a senior NHAI official.Data further show that on average around 13 lakh toll payment transactions occur through the annual pass each day.Officials said initial feedback from toll operators and commuters indicates that there have been hardly any instances of altercation or violence over the new system between commuters and user-fee collectors at plazas. They added that the increased adoption of the system has also significantly reduced queues at toll gates. “It has improved the operational efficiency of toll operators. We will soon carry out a comprehensive impact assessment of the scheme,” said a top official of IHMCL, a subsidiary of NHAI.
