Product Overview
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program to fulfill India's electronic tolling needs. It provides an interoperable, nationwide toll payment solution, including clearinghouse services for settlement and dispute management. Interoperability in the NETC system includes a unified set of processes, business rules, and technical specifications, allowing customers to use their NETC FASTag at any toll plaza, regardless of the toll operator.
NETC FASTag is a device that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to facilitate toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion. Affixed to the vehicle's windscreen, the FASTag enables toll payments directly from the linked account.
NETC FASTag provides the convenience of cashless payments and additional benefits, such as fuel and time savings, as customers no longer need to stop at toll plazas.
What is NETC FASTag?
NETC FASTag is a passive RFID tag used to make toll payments directly from the customer’s linked prepaid, savings, or current account. It is affixed to the vehicle’s windscreen, allowing customers to pass through toll plazas without stopping.
The toll fare is automatically deducted from the customer’s linked account. NETC FASTag is vehicle-specific and cannot be transferred to another vehicle once affixed. It can be purchased from any NETC member bank. If linked to a prepaid account, the FASTag needs to be recharged or topped up based on the customer’s usage. If there is insufficient balance, the NETC FASTag will be blacklisted at the toll plaza, and the customer will need to pay the toll fare in cash if they travel without recharging the account.
Objectives of National Electronic Toll Collection system:
| To create a composite interoperable ecosystem. | Provides an interoperable secure framework capable of use across the country. |
| Simple and robust Framework. | It increases transparency and efficiency in processing transactions. |
| To serve the sub-goal of the Government of India. | Electronification of retail payments. |
| Reduce air pollution by reducing the congestion around toll plazas. | |
| Reduce fuel consumption. | |
| Reduce cash handling. | |
| Enhance audit control by centralizing user accounts. |
Following are some of the key features and functionalities of the National Electronic Toll Collection system.
| Transaction Type. | Off-line, near real-time transaction processing as the toll plazas send the transactions within 10 mins intervals. |
| Interoperability. | NETC ecosystem supports multiple issuers, and multiple acquirers', i.e. a Tag issued by any member bank is accepted at all toll plazas (under the NETC program) acquired by any member bank in a safe and secure manner. |
| Flexibility to choose the underlying payment instruments. | Customers can link their NETC FASTag to their existing savings/current account or to a prepaid account basis the offering from the Issuer member banks. For opening a prepaid account it is not mandatory to have an existing relationship with the issuer bank. |
| Tag Issuance. | Can be issued by member banks authorized for the NETC Program. |
| Cashless Payment. | NETC FASTag facilitates electronic payments at the toll plaza while the vehicle is in motion. |
| Save Time and Fuel. | Customer can travel without stopping at the toll plaza by using the NETC FASTag thus reduce congestion at plazas and , saving fuel and reduce travel time. |
| Recharge the NETC FASTag account online. | Customer can recharge NETC FASTag account online through issuing member banks portal using UPI/ Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/ RTGS /Net Banking. |
- For NETC FASTag queries, please contact your issuing bank customer care number: Click here
NETC TRANSACTION PROCESS FLOW
The above diagram illustrates transaction flow of the NETC system. The Transaction from the Toll Plaza is sent to the acquiring system. The Acquiring System validates these transactions and send it to NETC Switch. NPCI route these transactions to the respective Issuer Bank which in turn debit the tag holder account.
LEG 1
Whenever the vehicle passes through the ETC lane of the Toll Plaza, the Toll Plaza system captures the NETC FASTag details like (Tag ID, TID, Vehicle class, etc.) and sends it to the Acquiring bank for processing.
LEG 2
The Acquiring bank sends a request to the NETC Mapper to validate the tag details.
LEG 3
Once the Tag ID is validated, NETC Mapper responds with details like Vehicle class, VRN, Tag Status etc. If the Tag ID is absent in NETC Mapper, it will respond that the Tag ID is not registered.
LEG 4
After successful validation of Tag ID from NETC Mapper, acquirer host calculates the appropriate toll fare and initiate a debit request to NETC system.
LEG 5
NETC System will switch the debit request to the respective issuer bank for debiting the account of the customer.
LEG 6
Issuer host shall debit the linked tag holder account and sends a SMS alert to the tag holder. The Issuer host shall send the response message to NETC system. If the response is not sent within the defined TAT, the transaction are considered as Deemed Accepted.
LEG 7
NETC system will notify the response to acquirer host.
LEG 8
Acquirer host will notify to respective toll plaza system.
EGCS TRANSACTION PROCESS FLOW
