Automobile Desk: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) of the Central Government has made a major amendment in the renewal rules of Exempted FASTag, giving relief to the disabled category drivers. Till now it was mandatory to renew this special tag every year, due to which vehicle owners had to go through a lot of paperwork. Under the new amendment, the validity of this tag has now been directly linked to the percentage of disability of the person, making the renewal process very easy and time-saving.
According to the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry, the percentage of disability recorded in the valid disability certificate, UDID card or other government approved documents will be the main basis for getting the exempted FASTag. The validity of FASTag given to the vehicles of persons whose level of disability is found to be between 70 percent to 100 percent will be valid for 5 years. On the other hand, in case of registered disability ranging from 40 percent to less than 70 percent, this tag will be valid for 3 years.
After the expiry of the validity period, this service can be renewed, provided the applicant is still found eligible under the relevant rules. Apart from this, it will remain mandatory to follow all other service conditions mentioned in the National Highway Fee Rules, 2008. The main objective of this entire step is to make the arrangements related to toll payment on the National Highway hassle-free so that the travel of disabled passengers can become more accessible. However, this special exemption in toll tax will be applicable only to those vehicles and persons who completely satisfy the prescribed standards.
A generally exempted FASTag is a special type of RFID sticker that is placed on the windshield of vehicles that are legally exempted from paying toll tax on national highways. Although no toll fee is charged from these vehicles, it is still necessary to affix this digital tag for identification and to regulate the flow of traffic at the toll plaza. Implementation of this rule will not only reduce paper formalities but will also provide freedom from renewal for a long time.