New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) The FASTag ecosystem has immense potential, not just for tolling, but as a foundation for seamless digital travel experiences across the country, said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.

According to the minister, through collaboration with fintechs and other stakeholders, “we aim to expand the utility of FASTag into a robust platform that will enhance user convenience, streamlines transport & mobility services, and bring greater efficiency to the sector”.

With 98.5 per cent toll payments, the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) FASTag programme operates across 1,728 toll plazas (1,113 National Highways, 615 State Highways). Over 38 banks have issued 11.04 crore FASTags, supporting digital payments.

The government last week announced the launch of a FASTag-based annual pass priced at Rs 3,000 for cars, with effect from August 15 this year, in “a transformative step towards hassle-free highway travel.”

To explore innovative applications of the FASTag system, a workshop with Fintech companies was organised in the national capital by Indian Highways and Management Company Limited (IHMCL), a company promoted by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The objective of the workshop was to gather insights from leading fintech players on various aspects such as regulatory compliance, grievance redressal, security, and non-toll applications of FASTag to support its next phase of growth.

“The presentations and discussions held at this workshop will pave the way for a digitally empowered National Highway network that will benefits every commuter in the country,” said Gadkari.

V. Umashankar, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, said “Fintech has been a bright spot for India and has given us many path-breaking innovations, whereas FASTag has transformed Electronic Toll Collection in the country.

“The essence of this workshop is to look at the toll collection mechanisms and how to make it cashless, convenient, time-efficient, fraud-free, and error-free tolling in a collaborative manner. We envision fintech as provider of innovation and government will be the facilitator to create an end product that will provide a better experience to the road user,” he emphasised.

According to Santosh Kumer Yadav, Chairman, NHAI, the workshop will pave way for future innovations that will help us to enhance the scope and utility of FASTag system beyond toll collections.

“This is a great opportunity to create future solutions that will cater to varied needs of the National Highway users,” he noted.

–IANS

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