Over 4.59 crore FASTags have been issued till 31st January, 2022

New Delhi: Over 4.59 crore FASTags have been issued till 31st January, 2022. The total quantum of user fee collection through FASTag on National Highways in the last two years, is as under:

Financial Year	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22 (upto January, 2022)
User Fee Collection (in Rs Crores)	10728.52	20837.08	26622.93

As on 5th February, 2022, approximately 12.5 lakh refund cases have been facilitated to FASTag users for incorrect deductions since January 2020.

Under FASTag programme, refunds are processed after scrutiny and validation by the respective issuer bank, based on the evidence/supporting details provided by stakeholders, such as fee plaza operators/concessionaires, acquirer banks, system integrator, etc.

Various measures have been undertaken by National Highways Authority of India from time-totime to reduce/eliminate occurrence of any incorrect deduction via FASTag at user fee plazas. Some of the key measures undertaken are as under:

Measures	Key benefit/feature
Implementation of Interface Control Document ((ICD) 2.4 (b)) (Year 2018)	To enable elimination of any duplicate Electronic Toll Collection transactions from FASTag vehicles at fee plazas.
Policy circular on remedial measures for handling the double deduction	Defined turn-around time (TAT) for refund of any excess deduction of user fee – whether paid in cash or via FASTag. Auto-refund of excess fee collected via FASTag Penal action on defaulting bank/fee plaza operating agency/concessionaire.
Mandate for implementation of Interface Control Document (ICD 2.5) at all fee plazas on National Highways (Year 2020 and 2021)	To enable near-real time processing of FASTag transactions at fee plazas on National Highways Instant SMS to FASTag users on user fee transactions
Service Level Agreement (SLA) parameters for issuer banks (Year 2019 & 2021)	Provision to resolve customer complaints related to overcharging, double deduction, unauthorized transaction, etc. in a time-bound manner

Government has already mandated the provision for enabling near-real time processing of FASTag transactions with implementation of Application Programming Interface (API)-based protocol (Interface Control Document (ICD) 2.5). This shall enable instant SMS to FASTag users on any transaction carried out at fee plazas on National Highways.

As on 5th February, 2022, approximately 80% of the FASTag transactions are processed on Application Programming Interface (API)-based protocol (i.e. Interface Control Document (ICD) 2.5) specifications.

This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.