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A revolutionary facility related to toll plaza is going to be implemented for crores of four-wheeler drivers traveling on national highways and expressways. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have accelerated ‘OneTag’ interoperability model to make the toll collection system more flexible and consumer-friendly. Till now, if any vehicle owner had to change the issuer bank of his Fastag, he had to remove the old Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sticker stuck on the windscreen of his car and buy a new sticker of the new bank. Putting an end to this hassle and expense forever, users will now be able to link their new bank on the same old sticker only through digital means.
Removing Fastag from the car windscreen has always been a headache for vehicle owners. Sometimes scraping off the sticker leaves stubborn glue marks on the glass, cuts the front sun-protection film or scratches the windscreen.
Under the OneTag facility, the original Fastag sticker on the windscreen of the vehicle will remain intact. The RFID chip present inside it will be recognized as a universal digital identity. The user will only have to go to the mobile app or net banking of his new bank and map the tag ID, eliminating the need to touch the windscreen again and again.
In the traditional system, whenever a user wanted to change his bank due to poor customer service or better cashback offers, he had to deposit a Fastag fee of Rs 100 to Rs 200 and a separate security deposit of Rs 200 to Rs 400 to the new bank.
With the introduction of OneTag model, the unnecessary expense of purchasing a new sticker will be completely saved. Users will be able to transfer their old security deposit to the new bank or take refund from the old bank and adjust it in the new account. This facility will prove to be a boon for those fleet and transport operators who have hundreds of vehicles and their lakhs of rupees were wasted in purchasing new stickers when they changed banks.
One of the biggest complaints of Fastag users has been that even after surrendering the old Fastag, the balance left in the wallet was not recovered for weeks. Many times, due to both the banks being active, there was a risk of money being deducted from both the wallets or wrong deduction at the toll plaza.
Once OneTag is linked to the centralized database, only one primary bank account or wallet of the vehicle will remain active. As soon as the user links the new bank, the old bank wallet will automatically be de-linked and the remaining amount in it will be directly transferred to the user’s main bank account without any lengthy formalities.
Like Mobile Number Portability (MNP), the introduction of Fastag portability will increase competition among different banks. Currently, many government and private banks provide very poor customer support to their Fastag users, complaints of wrong deductions on toll are not resolved for weeks and charge huge convenience fees on recharge.
After implementation of OneTag, if any bank does not provide its services satisfactorily, the customer will be able to switch to another bank like SBI, HDFC, ICICI or Airtel Payments Bank within a few minutes. This will force banks to provide facilities like better cashback, zero convenience fees, attractive reward points and immediate problem resolution to retain customers.
Drivers often have to pay double toll tax due to technical flaws like ‘Tag Not Read’, ‘Low Balance’ or ‘Tag Blacklisted’ in the automatic lanes of toll plazas. Many times, despite the wallet being recharged, the tag shows up as blacklisted on the toll scanner due to delay in the bank’s servers.
Under the OneTag system, NPCI’s National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) server will be in real-time sync directly with the user’s bank. If there is any technical glitch (downtime) in any bank’s server, the user will be able to immediately activate his UPI handle or secondary bank account with the same sticker as a backup, which will enable uninterrupted travel without stopping the vehicle in the toll lane.
The process of transferring Fastag to a new bank without changing the sticker has been kept completely digital and paperless:
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Login to portal: The user has to visit the official portal of NPCI or the mobile application of the concerned bank.
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Vehicle Registration Details: Vehicle registration number (RC Number) and the 16 digit tag ID printed on the existing Fastag will have to be entered.
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OTP Authentication: Verification will be completed through a one-time password received on the registered mobile number of the vehicle owner.
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New Bank Selection: You have to select your preferred bank or UPI wallet from the list of available authorized banks.
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Linking Confirmation: As soon as the bank is changed, the old bank will become inactive with immediate effect and the new bank account will be successfully linked with the same old sticker.
OneTag will prove to be a game-changer in reducing long queues at toll plazas and providing a seamless digital experience to drivers, making travel on Indian National Highways more seamless and stress-free than ever before.