The National Payments Corporation of India has issued a clarification that explains that NETC FASTag ecosystem is not compromised and cannot be easily tampered with, as was recently demonstrated in a viral video.
The NETC FASTags cannot operate in any Person to Person capacity, the NPCI clarifies. “Everytime the Bank connects with NPCI through API connectivity, the data is encrypted with a secure 256H SHA ECC algorithm and locked with a Hexadecimal Private Key” the NPCI explained.
A fake video showing how kids are stealing money by scanning a FASTag on the pretext of wiping the windshield of the car has gone viral with many social media users believing in the doctored video. The National Payments Council of India issued a clarification and said it is not possible for an individual to scan the FASTag and get money from the owner’s account.
“Please note that there are baseless and false videos circulating on Social media. Do understand the below points:… https://t.co/SNrANUnaQr— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) 1656148545000”
The video has been doing the rounds for quite a few days but went viral after IAS officer Awanish Sharan reposted the video, asking ‘Is it true?’ After it was revealed that it was a doctored video, the IAS officer deleted the tweet.
Transactions can also not take place in open internet connectivity. “Every acquirer bank is provided with a unique acquire ID (AID). The combination of the plaza code and bank acquirer ID is mapped at the NPCI end. Geo-location of every merchant (plaza) has been stored at respective acquirer banks and NPCI,” NPCI said.