Fastags

Why in news?

• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that 93 per cent of vehicles pay toll using FASTag but remaining 7 per cent are yet to adopt it, despite paying double toll.

About Fastags

• FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.
• FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted.
• The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.

Radio-frequency Identification (RFID)

• Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.
• An RFID tag consists of a tiny radio transponder: a radio receiver and transmitter.
• When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually an identifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to inventory goods.
• There are two types.
  • Passive tags are powered by energy from the RFID reader's interrogating radio waves.
  • Active tags are powered by a battery and thus can be read at a greater range from the RFID reader; up to hundreds of meters.
• Unlike a barcode, the tag doesn't need to be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object.
• RFID is one method of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC).

Prelims Question

FASTag primarily uses which of the following technologies?
(a)Bluetooth
(b)Near-Field Communication (NFC)
(c)Infrared rays
(d)Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

Answer to the Prelims Question