As per a recent news update, from April 1 motorists on 22 state sector highway’s in Maharashtra would require to have Fastag to get through Road Tolls. The order has been a result of the decision taken by sate cabinet on Tuesday. The mandate extends to all electronic state tolls currently deployed on the national highways to state roads governed by the Maharashtra Government.

The policy would apply to toll plaza’s on 23 highways managed by the Public Works Department and 50 overseen by the Maharashtra state development corporation. As per the transport department this step would reduce the traffic congestion on toll plazas and improve the over all working and transparency of toll Collection.

Challenges Ahead For Defaulters

Defaulters would have to pay double fee in cash while passing all tolls, so if you do not have a fastag this might be the right time to apply for one. We would advise you to always maintain proper balance in your Fastag account otherwise it might get blacklisted leading to issues while passing toll gates.

“The Fastag policy is already in place for national highways managed by the National Highway Authority of India since 2021. It will now also be mandatory for state highways and their toll plazas operated by private contractors,” said an official from the transport department.

The official added that the operational rules for Fastag on state highways will mirror those on national highways. “Motorists without a Fastag will be required to pay double the toll if they opt for other payment methods such as cash,” he said. As per an official from Transport Department.

Fastag Technology

Its is the use of passive RFID that allows the Fastag in cashless collection of toll fee. The system has been implemented to improve the over all mobility of cars on highways and state roads. The system automatically detects the vehicle passing through toll and detect the fees from the users linked account upon passing.

As per this recent update, most state roads, besides National Highways would adopt the efficient Fastag mechanism. The government would further bring changes to their public private partnership policy of 2014 to easily accommodate such changes.

While government has been profoundly implementing the New Fastag to be the go to method for toll collection, certain common issues with the Fastag still plague the user experience. These involve issues such as double deduction and Blacklisting in case your balance goes below a certain limit. Its possible that with time resolute solutions for such problems also come forth.

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