National Payments Corporation of India and the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways have issued two new major changes to the Fastag which are set to come into effect from February 17, 2025.
With an aim to streamline toll payments and reduce disputes, the government is set to implement stricter guidelines for processing transactions and chargebacks.
Advertisement
From February 17, new Fastag rules will affect users who delay payments or have blacklisted tags. There are also changes in terms of the Chargeback process and cooling period as well as transaction rejection rules to streamline toll payments and reduce disputes.
Advertisement
Users may incur additional charges if their toll transactions are processed beyond 15 minutes from the time the vehicle passes the toll reader.
If a transaction is delayed and the user’s Fastag account has insufficient balance, the toll operator will be held responsible, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) guidelines said.
If the amount is deducted, users can dispute the charge, but only after a mandatory 15-day cooling period.
Further, banks can raise chargebacks for incorrect deductions related to blacklisted or low-balance Fastags only after 15 days. If a chargeback is filed before the cooling period, it will be automatically rejected with a system error code.
From February 17, if a Fastag has been inactive for more than 60 minutes before the vehicle crosses the toll and remains inactive up to 10 minutes after passing, the transaction will be declined. The system will reject such payments with reason code 176.
Transactions processed after 15 minutes may result in delayed deductions and extra charges, and the chargebacks for such cases can only be raised after a 15-day cooling period.
Fastags inactive for over 60 minutes before crossing the toll may face automatic rejection.
Advertisement
