| A nifty bit of technology has helped save 70,000 crore rupees ($8.4 billion) in wasted fuel expenses in India, according to Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. The technology, called FASTag, reduces wait times at toll plazas all over the country. Instead of making drivers wait in line to pay a toll fee, it uses radio frequency identification to scan the tag pasted on the windshield of a registered vehicle and allows it to pass through.
India made FASTag mandatory for vehicles in February 2021. The tech seamlessly transfers the toll fee from the vehicle owner's registered e-wallet — such as their Paytm wallet — to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
"It [works well] on the highways, for sure. Nowadays, multiple mall parking checkout counters also accept FASTag," Shyama P, a 36-year-old Bengaluru-based IT professional, told me. She regularly drives to Kozhikode, Kerala, to meet her family, encountering anywhere between three to 10 toll plazas on her way, depending on the route. "It's convenient because we don't need to keep the exact change on us."
Since 2021, the number of toll plazas that accept FASTag has increased from 770 to 1,228, according to the NHAI. The highway authority also claimed that FASTag is available at over 140 parking lots in more than 50 Indian cities. Integrating FASTag into the country's toll collection infrastructure has also increased the revenue — it rose from $770 million in 2013–14 to nearly $5 billion in 2022–2023, according to Gadkari. The government now aims to increase its toll revenue to over $15 billion by 2030.
FASTag is now being rolled out at more airport parking facilities, shopping malls, and even at entry points to forest areas. "FASTag is the quiet UPI," tweeted Aviral Bhatnagar, a venture capitalist at advisory firm Venture Highway. He was alluding to India's globally coveted unified payments interface, which facilitates real-time payment from the user's bank account.
"There's no need for human interaction so all Covid[-19] protocols can be followed," Ragini Malhotra, a 55-year-old Delhi-based cricket coach, told me. But the technology can also malfunction. "There have been times where I've had to move the car forward and back a few times for the scanner to read the tag," she said. "If that doesn't work, the toll operator has to manually enter the car's number into the system."
Since FASTag automatically deducts the required amount, some users claim they've been overcharged. Last month, a FASTag user said he was billed 9 crore rupees (over $1 million) instead of 90 rupees at a Haryana toll plaza. But more users feel that FASTag can be leveraged to solve bigger problems on Indian roads.
Thejas Ravindranath, a Bengaluru-based product manager, recently tweeted that the technology can be used to automatically fine those who overspeed on expressways. "When someone overspeeds, just deduct the fine(s) in the next tollbooth automatically along with the toll," he wrote. – Durga M Sengupta | 
