Tourism Development Council Manali, Himachal Pradesh and IDFC First Bank have started paying green tax using FASTag. This is the first time that the FASTag balance amount is being used to pay green tax in the country.
Tourism Development Council Manali, Himachal Pradesh and IDFC First Bank have started paying Green Tax using FASTag . This is the first time that the FASTag balance amount is being used to pay green tax in the country. It is making such payments cashless and convenient for motorists in Manali, a statement said . Till now FASTag balance has been used for payment of toll, fuel and parking charges. IDFC First Bank has been selected by Tourism Development Council Manali as the acquirer bank. Himachal Pradesh receives 50 lakh tourists every month.
Speaking on the partnership, IDFC First Bank Chief Operating Officer B. Madhivanan said that India is at a new frontier in the field of digitization of transit-related payments. The bank said that they have continuously developed FASTag to make payments easier and faster for motorists. He has extended the benefits of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to pay for fuel and parking using FASTag. According to the statement, they are happy to partner with Tourism Development Council Manali to launch FASTag for the first time for payment of green tax, making it cashless. This will reduce stoppage time and give motorists an easy cross-over in Manali.
Bank issued 60 lakh fastag
IDFC First Bank is today the largest acquirer serving over 400 toll plazas and has issued around 6 million FASTag. The bank said that it has done an average of about 20 lakh transactions per day by motorists using the tag. DC Kullu, Ashutosh Garg informed that FASTag facility for green tax collection has been started with the convenience of Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL), National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and IDFC First Bank along with District Administration Kullu and TDC Manali. An initiative for It minimizes human interface and encourages digital transactions along with saving time.
The FASTag program was jointly launched by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a means of accepting toll fare at all National Highway plazas. Banks act as issuers and acquirers in this eco-system which processes around 7 million transactions a day. FASTags are accepted at all national highway toll plazas and select state highways. The latest number of active toll plazas is around 900.
IDFC First Bank is an acquiring bank and enables payments through FASTag at around 412 toll plazas and 15 parking locations. The bank pioneers the use of FASTag in the commercial vehicle segment and is the preferred tag for long distance trucks.
