The overall user fee collection at toll plazas on national highways increased by around 1.8 times in the last eight years with the growth rate falling in the last two years. Will 2021-22 see the overall growth in user fee collections at toll plazas cross 25% on account of mandatory FASTag? Effective from 14 February 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has made FASTag compulsory on all national highways. In other words, all the lanes in toll plazas have been declared ‘FASTag lanes’. Further, as per the statement issued by MoRTH, any vehicle not fitted with FASTag or vehicle without valid, functional FASTag entering into the FASTag lane shall be liable to pay a fee equivalent to two times the fee applicable to that category of vehicle. This is a continuation of the efforts by the government to make FASTag compulsory in order to make user fee payments at toll plazas through digital mode, thereby reducing waiting times and providing seamless passage through fee plazas. Recently on 17 March 2021, MoRTH’s official Twitter handle of FASTag tweeted that the number of FASTag users has crossed 3 crores. We are proud to announce that FASTag has achieved a user base of 3 crore!#FASTag #NHAIFASTag #IHMCL #DrivewithFASTag@MORTHIndia @MORTHRoadSafety @NHAI_Official @nhidcl @NPCI_NPCI @FASTag_NETC pic.twitter.com/e2MYdYUwBT That is an addition of 15.3 lakhs in the first 17 days of March 2021. As per the information provided by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the total number of FASTag users at the end of February 2021 was around 2.84 crores. After a fall during the lockdown, number of new FASTag users has increased consistently In February 2021, when the government made FASTag mandatory, the total number of new FASTag users was 35.25 lakhs. It is more than 1.5 times the number of new users reported in January 2021. While the spike in the number of new FASTag users can be attributed to the government mandate, it is in continuation of a recent trend in the last few months of consistent increase in new FASTag users every month. Since May 2020, there has been a gradual increase in the monthly new users. The higher number recorded in February 2021 is incidentally not the highest addition in a month though. In December 2019, a total of 37.64 lakh new FASTag users were added to the system. It ought to be noted that December 2019 also happens to be the month when the government first announced that FASTag would be mandatory at all toll plazas. However, new FASTag subscribers fell in the ensuing months, coinciding with the period of lockdown. As highlighted earlier, there has been a gradual increase since May 2020. The trends indicate that there is a higher increase in the new FASTag users when there is a government regulation mandating the use. It is to be seen if there would be a fall in the numbers in ensuing months similar to the trend observed earlier. Since new vehicles are anyway fitted with FASTag, it remains to be seen how many of the more than 1.5 crore odd old vehicles which are yet to be fitted with FASTag come into the system and when. With the exception of Lockdown period, consistent increase in revenue collected through FASTag While the trends in new FASTag users per month fluctuated over the period of time, there has been a consistent increase in the volume of FASTag transactions and the revenue collected barring the lockdown period. The spike in the number of new FASTag users during December 2019 did result in a corresponding increase in the revenue collected. The monthly revenue through FASTag in December 2019 was Rs. 1256.84 crores while it was Rs. 773 crores in the earlier month. The monthly growth was maintained in the ensuing months until the beginning of lockdown induced by COVID-19. During this period, the highest revenue through FASTag was in February 2020 with Rs. 1841 crores. Post the lockdown, this number was crossed in September 2020 and the monthly revenue during every month since then has been higher than during the pre-lockdown period. The increase in FASTag users may not correlate directly with the increase in FASTag revenues since the revenue collected through the FASTag is a recurring thing and is dependent on the usage of the highways through the toll plazas and other factors. On the other hand, new users could be a result of the purchase of new vehicles, fitting FASTag in old vehicles when they travel on national highways. The varying trends in the addition of new users and the volume of transactions highlight this.