Automobile Desk – The National Highway Authority (NHAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport have taken a very relief step for the drivers traveling on the national highways of the country. Cashless payment through FASTag had already become easy while passing through toll plazas on the highway, but if a customer was upset with the service of his FASTag issuing bank, then there was no easy way for him to change the bank. To eliminate this problem from its roots, the government has started 'OneTag' facility. Under this new system, toll customers will get the option to change their bank on the lines of Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
It was generally seen that if the server of any bank is down, there is any technical problem in recharge or the customer care is not getting proper assistance, then the vehicle owner had to face a lot of trouble to change his FASTag bank. For this, first the old tag had to be cancelled, then the sticker stuck from the windshield of the vehicles had to be removed and after that a new FASTag had to be purchased and pasted again. This entire process was a waste of both time and money, and sometimes there was also a risk of being blacklisted at the toll due to the new sticker not sticking properly.
Now with the introduction of OneTag system, this entire problem will end. If you are not happy with your current bank, you can directly shift to the services of another bank without removing the old sticker from the vehicle's windshield. For this, your Tag ID and vehicle registration number will remain completely the same. That is, the code stuck on the front glass of the vehicle will work in the same way, only at the backend your account will be linked to the new bank.
To use this portability, the help of the official 'RajmargYatra' mobile app of the National Highway Authority of India can be taken. By visiting the app, vehicle owners can select the new bank as per their convenience. After changing the bank, the method of scanning and payment at the toll plaza will continue to work as before under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system. Drivers will not feel any difference in the speed and process of toll deduction.
However, users need to keep one very important thing in mind while changing banks. As soon as a new bank is selected, the money lying in the old FASTag wallet will not be automatically transferred. The remaining balance in your old account, refund of security deposit and any pending transactions will be cleared by the old bank only. Therefore, before submitting the portability request through OneTag, it would be wisest to check the balance of the old tag and put it in the refund process.
