Many times you must have seen long queues on the toll plazas, sometimes there is a problem of change money, sometimes there is a problem in the computer systems at the toll plaza lanes and many more problems. But now all these problems have been resolved by the Government of India by introducing a new kind of technology known as Fastag which allows the contactless collection of toll tax from vehicles.
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NHAI has made Fastag mandatory and now it is very important for everyone to have Fastag. And it can also be said to be a very good option, as earlier the toll tax amount had to be paid in the cash, then had to take the receipt which also used to consume time.
So if you haven’t purchased Fastag yet, then buy it immediately otherwise you will have to pay a fine or double toll tax while crossing any toll plaza.
We all know that now it has become mandatory to install Fastag on every four or more wheeler vehicle. Fastag saves money and time. But most people don’t know how to recharge Fastag or add money to Fastag wallet. If you have no information about it then read here all the details that you require to know about recharging Fastag through UPI.
What is ICICI Fastag and where to get it from?
Before knowing how to recharge Fastag using UPI, here we will provide a summary for new users about what is Fastag and where to get it.
Fastag is an electronic toll collection system that is operated by the National Highway Authority (NHAI). Fastag is an electronic card with RFID (radio frequency identification) chip that allows car/truck drivers to easily pay toll owners. And most importantly, it is also very easy to recharge a Fastag card which we will explain below.
You can easily get your Fastag from your bank where you have a bank account or from the bank’s online service. There is also a second option which is the sale point (POS) of NHAI which is situated near all the toll plazas across the country.
Recharging ICICI Fastag using UPI
Once you have purchased Fastag and installed it on your vehicle, then you have to recharge it frequently or once the balance in it becomes less than the required amount. There are various ways of recharging Fastag like recharging through Mobile Apps, Credit cards, Debit cards, etc, but all these methods require a user to login and consume time also. So the most convenient and easiest method of recharging your Fastag issued by any bank is to use UPI. Recharging Fastag using UPI doesn’t require you to log in and it is a very quick process also.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has provided Fastag users the option to recharge NETC Fastag with UPI. The NPCI said that through UPI based mobile app, the vehicle owners will be able to recharge their Fastag even while on the road and they will not need to wait in long lines at the toll plaza.
The steps required to recharge your ICICI Fastag through UPI are:
- The first thing that you need to do is to Install UPI app on your mobile phone if you have not done it yet.
- After installing UPI app, open it.
- Once you open UPI app, you will see ‘Send’ option there. Select this ‘Send’ option
- Enter NETC Fastag UPI ID.
- The format of NETC Fastag UPI id is like: netc.Vehicle Number@BankUPIHandle
eg. if you have purchased Fastag from SBI and your vehicle number is RJ02 3276, then your Fastag UPI ID will be netc.RJ02 3276@sbibank - Thereafter click to verify.
- Enter the desired amount to recharge with.
- Enter your PIN to authenticate the transaction
- Once your transaction is completed successfully, you will receive a confirmation message on your Registered mobile number.
- So you are not done with recharging your Fastag through UPI app.
What is UPI?
If you don’t have an idea about what is UPI, then below we are also giving a brief description of what is UPI and how it can be used for online payments.
We have many ways to make payments at various places and online. Ever since Internet banking started, people got the chance that they could transfer money from internet banking to their friends or relatives easily from their homes.
With the introduction of online banking, people did not have to go to the bank and stand in line, it made the life of the people a little simpler. When online shopping started, new payment options were also introduced. The method of payment by debit card and credit card is still quite in use, but still, people want that they have to enter a single code and the transaction can be done more easily.
The UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface. This is an instant real-time payment system. This means that users can send money to their friends and relatives instantly from anywhere and anytime with the help of UPI. It has been started by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to do interbank transactions. There are many banks in our country and people can have any bank account. Not all banks’ ATMs are present everywhere and in such a situation, let’s assume that we withdraw money from SBI ATM using HDFC bank Debit card. That is why this department also monitors the transactions going on between ATMs of one bank and ATMs of another bank.
The main benefit of using UPI is that you can transfer money to any person by using only the UPI ID of that person. You don’t have to use that Person’s Name, Bank Branch Name, Bank Account number, etc, which makes UPI one of the easiest and quickest ways of transfer money online.
Most of the online third-party Mobile Apps like Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe app, etc have upgraded their systems to support UPI. It means now the users can make online transactions through all the above-mentioned apps by using UPI also.