FASTag Annual Pass Scheme:
The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways announced a FASTag-based annual pass of Rs 3,000 for “hassle-free-highway travel”.
- FASTag is an electronic toll collection system managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
- A FASTag was launched in 2014 as a pilot project and made mandatory at every toll plaza in the country in 2021.
- The new annual pass scheme, activated on the FASTag, will allow free passage of private car, jeep or van at National Highway (NH) and National Expressway (NE) fee plazas for the given duration, without per-trip user fee charges.
- Once the Annual Pass completes either 200 trips or one year from the date of activation, it will automatically revert to a regular FASTag.
- The user may re-purchase the Annual Pass once the 200-trip limit is exhausted, even if the one-year validity period has not yet ended.
- The pass is non-transferable and is valid only for the vehicle on which the FASTag is affixed and registered.
- For the point-based fee plazas, each crossing of the fee plaza will be counted as one trip. A round trip (to and fro) will be counted as two trips. For closed tolling fee plazas, one pair of entry and exit will be counted as one trip.
- The Annual Pass is applicable only for private non-commercial cars, jeeps and vans.
- It is valid only at National Highway and National Expressway fee plazas.
- It will be activated after verifying the eligibility of the vehicle and the associated FASTag. Upon successful verification, the user will have to make a payment of Rs. 3,000 for the base year 2025–26 through the Rajmargyatra mobile application or the NHAI website.
