FASTag annual pass: price and coverage rules

Sooner or later someone will ask, “I saw an ad for a toll pass. Can you put it on my FASTag?” It’s a fair question, and the answer is a bit more involved than a normal recharge.

Before you say anything about price, ask what they actually want to do: buy a pass, check whether a route is covered, or sort out a payment that went wrong. Then ask whether the vehicle already has an active pass. Customers buy the annual pass themselves through the Rajmargyatra app or the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) website. Your job at the counter is to help them check things properly before they pay.

What does the FASTag annual pass cost?

As of 18 October 2026, NHAI lists ₹3,075 as the annual-pass fee for financial year (FY) 2026-27, effective from 1 April 2026. Its March fee announcement revised the earlier ₹3,000 fee. If a customer shows you an older screenshot with ₹3,000 on it, don’t argue. Just tell them the amount is for a different financial year, and say which year yours is.

Does the pass save money? It depends on the customer’s own route and how often they drive it. Ask which eligible plazas they’ll cross, including the way back, and what those crossings would cost without the pass. Then let them do the sum. Don’t fill in their travel plans for them, and don’t promise a saving. It may not pay off for someone who rarely uses eligible plazas.

One more thing worth saying out loud: an ordinary tag-recharge receipt doesn’t show that a pass purchase is complete. They’re two different things.

Questions to ask before they pay

Have a short chat with the customer first.

• Which trips are certain, including the return?
• Which eligible plazas are on those roads?
• What would those crossings cost without the pass?

If the route is still undecided, leave the question open and say so. A different road or fewer trips changes the sum.

Which vehicles and FASTags qualify?

As of 18 October 2026, IHMCL’s annual-pass FAQ limits the pass to private, non-commercial cars, jeeps and vans. It says eligibility checks use the vehicle record in VAHAN, the government’s vehicle database. So don’t decide eligibility by looking at the vehicle. A car with a tag on the windscreen can still fail the check.

The checklist below comes from that FAQ and from NHAI’s annual-pass terms, checked on 18 October 2026.

Compare the registration number in the tag record with the RC, character by character. A near match isn’t a match. If they differ, ask the issuer for the correction route and sort that out before payment.

If an eligibility check is rejected, write down the exact reason shown. Is it about the vehicle category, the registration record or the tag status? That one detail saves a lot of back and forth later. And be careful with your words: a document check at your counter isn’t NHAI approving the vehicle. Don’t describe it that way.

If the underlying FASTag itself needs activating or fixing, take that to the issuing bank first, then come back to the pass.

Which toll plazas does the pass cover?

Not all of them, and this is where customers get caught.

As of 18 October 2026, NHAI’s annual-pass terms limit the benefits to NHAI-operated National Highway and Expressway toll plazas, and they point users to the eligible-plaza list on Rajmargyatra. IHMCL’s FAQ says ordinary FASTag charges may apply at expressway plazas run by State Governments or local bodies, at State Highway plazas, and at parking facilities.

So ask for the starting point and the destination. Write down the plaza names along the way and check each one against the official list. Record the plaza name, what the list says, and the date you checked. Do the same for the return journey, because it may use a different road. Use the real plaza name, not “the toll after the bridge”.

If you can’t tell whether a plaza is covered, don’t guess and don’t treat the whole trip as covered. Save the official result and ask official support about that named plaza. If someone forwards you a list with no date, check the official entry again. When the route changes, update the note. The old one proves nothing about the new trip.

How long does it last, and how are crossings counted?

As of 18 October 2026, IHMCL’s FAQ gives the validity as one year from activation or 200 crossings, whichever comes first. After either limit, the tag goes back to ordinary FASTag use.

Counting works like this. At point-based fee plazas, each passage is a crossing, so going out and coming back through the same plaza counts as two. In a closed toll system, one valid entry and exit pair counts as one crossing. Both rules match NHAI’s terms.

NHAI’s terms also say unused crossings lapse at the end of the validity period. Nothing carries forward, and nothing is refunded. So tell customers to think in toll crossings, not in holidays or road trips. How many trips 200 crossings gives you depends on the route and the toll set-up.

Before another journey, the customer should check the pass status, the activation date and the crossings left, through the official service. If the pass has ended, they need to read the fresh purchase terms before paying again. The old purchase doesn’t cover the next period.

Where can a customer buy and activate the pass?

As of 18 October 2026, IHMCL’s FAQ names only the Rajmargyatra mobile app and the NHAI website as activation channels. Keep the purchase inside that official flow. The FASTag agent registration page is about setting up a retail service, and that’s a separate matter from a customer buying a pass.

Use these steps as a checking guide. If the live screen looks different, read the official instructions on it and don’t guess at an unfamiliar message.

1. Open the official service. Use the NHAI annual-pass service or the Rajmargyatra app, and read the eligibility requirements first. If the customer arrived through a forwarded message, check the web address before anyone types vehicle or payment details.
2. Check the vehicle and tag record. Compare the VRN with the RC. If verification fails, save the reason shown and fix it with the issuer before paying.
3. Read the payment details. Look at the vehicle, the fee and the financial year. Ask the customer to read the pass terms before they authorise payment. Keep the payment reference and whatever confirmation or error message comes up.
4. Confirm the pass status. Check the pass for the right vehicle. A bank debit alone isn’t proof of activation.

NHAI’s fee announcement states activation within two hours after payment, as of 18 October 2026. That timing belongs to NHAI, so say it as NHAI’s and never as your own promise. And suggest the customer checks the pass well before a trip that depends on it.

What if payment fails or the pass doesn’t appear?

Keep the payment result and the pass result apart, and keep both references together. These distinctions come from NHAI’s terms, checked on 18 October 2026.

NHAI’s terms allow a refund only where payment succeeds but a technical or system error stops the pass from being issued. Ask official support to check whether the case fits that condition. A debit message alone doesn’t tell you the cause, so don’t promise a refund first.

The same terms say an issued or activated annual pass cannot be cancelled or refunded. The technical-error exception is about a pass that never got issued. Tell the customer this before they pay, especially if their plans are shaky.

These are rules for the pass only. Closing the underlying FASTag, or a wallet balance, belongs with the issuer under that separate request. Don’t apply the pass’s no-refund wording to those amounts.

What if a toll still charges the customer?

Check coverage, pass validity and tag status before you call a deduction a mistake. Ask for the plaza name and the transaction date, then compare them with the pass record and the official list. Work from the original transaction reference, not from what the customer remembers of the drive.

If the plaza is outside pass coverage, ordinary FASTag charges apply. If the customer disputes coverage or validity, the specific question should go to official support. For a tag-status issue, the issuing bank checks the underlying tag.

As of 18 October 2026, the Ministry’s July statement on tolling and complaints lists Rajmargyatra, the FASTag issuer bank’s helpline and National Highway helpline 1033 as routes for user-fee complaints. Help the customer write a short account: vehicle number, plaza, travel date, payment or toll reference, pass status, and exactly what went wrong. Add what they want done, such as a check on issuance or a review of a deduction. Keep the acknowledgement. And don’t give a settlement time the official channel hasn’t confirmed.

What if the official service asks for more proof?

NHAI’s annual-pass terms, checked on 18 October 2026, reserve the right for NHAI or its authorised agencies to verify ownership, identity and submitted documents at any time. They say failure to produce valid documents on request may lead to suspension or cancellation.

If your customer gets such a request, find out what it’s actually asking for, and check the official route before sending anything. A general bank KYC message and a pass verification request aren’t the same thing, even if both mention identity or vehicle records. Keep a note of what was asked and what was sent. If the customer can’t produce a document, ask the official service what the next step is. Don’t invent a substitute, and don’t tell them to ignore the request because the pass was already active.

Questions customers ask at the counter

Is buying the annual pass compulsory?

No. As of 18 October 2026, IHMCL’s FAQ says the pass is optional and ordinary FASTag transactions continue for people who don’t choose it.

Can the pass move to another vehicle?

No. IHMCL’s FAQ says the pass can’t transfer between vehicles. For a replacement tag on the same vehicle, ask official support. The different-vehicle rule doesn’t tell you how a same-vehicle replacement works.

Must the customer buy a new FASTag for the pass?

No. IHMCL’s FAQ says an eligible existing FASTag can receive the pass. If the existing tag failed eligibility, find out why before you suggest a replacement.

For a problem with your own agent portal, use the FASTag agent login guide. For a SiOnline-side question, use the help centre. Keep those separate from the official pass or toll complaint.

Sources

• NHAI annual-pass fee announcement, 15 March 2026, via PIB, reopened 18 October 2026.
• IHMCL annual-pass customer FAQ, reopened 18 October 2026.
• NHAI Rajmargyatra annual-pass terms and conditions, reopened 18 October 2026.
• MoRTH parliamentary reply, 22 July 2026, via PIB, reopened 18 October 2026.

Facts checked on 18 October 2026. Confirm current issuer instructions before acting.