NEW DELHI: Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL) has inked a pact with CSC e-Governance Services for issuance of FASTags through common service centers to ensure faster implementation of electronic toll collection, according to an official from National Highways Aythority if India (NHAI).
‘FASTag’ is a brand name under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme implemented IHMCL.
“To ensure the availability of FASTags, IHMCL, a company promoted by NHAI, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), set up by the Ministry of Electronics & IT, for issuance of IHMCL FASTag through common service centers (CSC),” the official said.
The purpose of collaboration is to make FASTags available to citizens through an extensive network of over 1 lakh CSC outlets across India.
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the NHAI initiated the FASTag programme to enable road users to pay the toll electronically without stopping by at toll plazas and thus reducing congestion.
The programme was launched in April 2016. As per the official, currently, there are 480 toll plazas along the national highways and select state toll plazas which are operational and till date, more than 4.3 million FASTags have been issued.
Recent government measures such as mandate to affix FASTag for issuance of a national permit for commercial vehicle, proposed integration of FASTag with the e-way bill system of GST, etc., have led to an urgent need to scale up the FASTag issuance channels, said the official.
The concept of implementation of IHMCL FASTag shall go a long way as the vehicle owners are able to purchase them from an extensive network of CSCs across the country, he added.
For ensuring availability of FASTag at petrol pumps, IHMCL has also signed MoUs with state-run oil marketing companies IOCL, BPCL and HPCL.