Truck operators caught in FAStag fuss

KOLKATA: With FASTag becoming mandatory for vehicles passing through toll plazas, truck operators in the state are in a fix as 40 per cent of them do not have a smartphone to carry out the transaction online.

They are paying double toll amount in cash as penalty. From February 15 midnight, the Union Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways has made FASTag compulsory for vehicles passing through toll plazas.

FASTag is an electronic sticker that has to be put on the windscreen of a vehicle. This sticker becomes the radio frequency identity of a vehicle, which is automatically scanned by the sensors placed at the toll plazas.

This sticker is linked either to a prepaid account or to a bank account. The amount

is deducted automatically whenever the vehicle crosses any toll plaza, which is RFID enabled.

"There are over five lakh trucks in Bengal. Around 40 per cent truck operators in the state are yet to have a FASTag system as most of them do not have a smartphone," said Sajal Ghosh, General Secretary of Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators Associations (FWBTOA). He reiterated

that trucks are standing in queues for several hours at toll plazas.