Cash users without FASTag to pay twice the fee:Payment made via UPI will be charged 1.25 times; rules to come into effect from 15 Nov

The government has changed the FASTag rules. If any vehicle crosses a toll plaza without a valid and active FASTag and makes a cash payment, they will have to pay double the toll fee. However, if you pay via UPI, you will only need to pay 1.25 times the applicable fee for that vehicle category. The new rule will be effective from November 15. Regarding the new changes, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that its purpose is to strengthen toll collection, bring transparency in toll collection, and make travel easier for passengers on National Highways. According to the ministry, these rules will promote digital payments. FASTag for one year at Rs 3,000 From August 15, the government has launched an annual FASTag pass for people traveling on National Highways. The price of this pass is Rs 3,000. It will be valid for one year. Through this pass, users can cross toll 200 times. The government says this will cost around Rs 15 per toll crossing and reduce crowds at national highway tolls across the country. This single pass will provide relief from the hassle of repeatedly stopping and recharging at toll plazas for travel on national highways. Answers to questions related to this scheme… Question 1: Is this pass valid on all types of highways? Answer: No, the pass will not work on all highways in the country. Question 2: For which vehicles is the annual pass valid? Answer: This pass is only for private, non-commercial vehicles like cars, jeeps and vans. Commercial vehicles like trucks, buses or taxis cannot use this pass. If you want to get this pass, your vehicle must be registered as a ‘private vehicle’ in the government’s VAHAN database. Question 3: Will I need to buy a new FASTag for this? Answer: No, there is no need to buy a new FASTag. This pass will be activated on your existing FASTag. However, there are some necessary conditions – the existing FASTag should be active, not blacklisted, and linked to the Vehicle Registration Number (VRN). This pass will not be activated on FASTag registered with chassis number. Question 4: Where can I buy the FASTag Annual Pass? You can buy a FASTag Annual Pass online by accessing the Rajmarg Yatra mobile app or the NHAI website. Once on these platforms, you can pay the ₹3,000 fee and link the pass to your existing FASTag after the vehicle and FASTag eligibility are verified. The pass is valid only on National Highway (NH) toll plazas and will be activated within two hours of successful payment and verification. Question 5: Can this pass be used in another vehicle? Answer: No, this pass is non-transferable. This means it will only be valid for the vehicle with which it was activated using the registration number and FASTag. Using it on another vehicle may result in pass deactivation and the money will not be refunded.