Will Paytm FASTag Stop Working After February 29? All Details

Paytm parent company One97 Communications got a big jolt from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, ordering Paytm Payments Bank to stop its major payment services by the end of February due to “persistent non-compliance” issues. Despite the Paytm app and Paytm Payments Bank being two different entities, there are shared aspects as well on the app like FASTag.

The Paytm app is used by millions of people in India, and understandably news about the service being affected majorly has caused some concerns. The big questions– will FASTags brought from Paytm continue working? And will car owners have to buy a new FASTag altogether?

Paytm FASTag- What Happens After February 29?

At this point of time, one thing is clear– all services of Paytm will work as usual till February 29, 2024. But what happens next?

For those unaware, every FASTag comes with a unique UPI ID. For Paytm FASTag users, this UPI ID is directly linked to Paytm Payments Bank.

As per the recent RBI order, Paytm users are not allowed to do credit transactions or top-ups in any customer accounts and prepaid instruments after February 29, 2024. It is also pointed out that services like FASTag may not work after February 29 as well which means you cannot top-up the FASTag ID after the deadline later this month. However, you are free to use the existing balance till February 29.

Paytm has officially quashed these rumours, and mentioned via this post on its X account, “you can continue using the existing balances on your Paytm FASTag. We started our journey of working with other banks over the last two years, which we will now accelerate.”

Well, technically Paytm did not comment on what happens to FASTag IDs after February 29 but it promises to be working on “effective solutions” to ensure a seamless customer experience.

This statement suggests Paytm might partner with traditional banks for its FASTag service and allow them to continue using it for their cars. We’ll prefer to wait for Paytm to make an official statement on these changes and how it affects its customers in the next few weeks.