The provision for paying through FASTags is currently only applicable for four-wheelers with a limited capacity of 55 vehicles. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) launched the country’s first FASTag-enabled parking facility on Tuesday, the Hindustan Times reported. The launch of the facility marks a new use case for the cashless toll-collection mechanism that was made mandatory for all vehicles from February 16, 2021. Pranesh Prakash, the co-founder of the Bengaluru-based Centre for Internet and Society, told MediaNama that while the extended scope of FASTag itself isn't a problem, the question remains how data related to FASTags is governed. Who can park at the facility? According to the report, only four-wheelers bearing FASTags will be allowed to park at the facility near the Kashmere gate metro station, through which both entry and exit payments will be carried out. Meanwhile, two-wheelers will be allowed to pay the charges via UPI. The parking lot can accommodate 55 four-wheelers and 174 two-wheelers. Mangu Singh, DMRC chief said that the cashless parking facility was being taken up as a pilot project. “After observing the response, we will plan similar systems at more parking facilities at our stations,” he said. The report adds that provisions will be made at a later stage for commuters to use their Delhi Metro smart card and the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). What are FASTags? FASTags are based on a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system and were initially rolled out in 2014 for faster toll payments in the Golden Quadrilateral between…
