Decoded: How ToneTag’s tech-enabled payments through car infotainment devices will work

Tired of rolling down your car window to pay for fuel using your cards or mobile wallets? Find it too cumbersome to scan the fuel stations’ QR Code to pay using UPI aka Unified Payments Interface? Forgot to carry your wallet and phone during a long drive? Well, you wouldn’t need any to pay for fuel, Fastag or food as long as you have your internet-enabled car.

ToneTag, a decade-old fintech company, is working on a concept that entails using a car’s infotainment system to pay at fuel stations. This contactless payment system will ensure the safety of you and your card.

A concept car displayed at Global Fintech Fest 2023 was modelled on the MG Hector car in a tie-up with BPCL, which operates 18,620 fuel stations in the country.

Also read: Total value of UPI transactions in 2022-23 was nearly 50 per cent of India's nominal GDP, says World Bank

How pay-by-car tech works

It will allow you to select the fuel station you would like to visit on the map displayed on your car’s infotainment system. Once you select the fuel station, you need to enter the amount you would need to pay for the fuel.

Once you opt for Rs 1,000 worth of fuel at, say, Allahabad petrol station, the station will receive a voice command on a soundbox installed that your car is approaching and you have requested a fuel refill of Rs 1,000. The password can be keyed into the car’s infotainment window for frictionless payments for fuel.

The pay-by-car innovation is possible through high-wave frequency communication and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a platform where shoppers, retailers, and technology providers are connected for e-commerce activities.

Vivek Kumar Singh, Co-founder and Director of Labs at Bangalore-based ToneTag, says, "We will be offering this frictionless payment for fuel through Amazon Pay accounts soon." The e-commerce giant is an investor in ToneTag.

While a handful of luxury cars, such as Mercedes Benz, offer payment services through car systems even today, one needs to use an in-house wallet subscription. But under the pay-by-car feature, you can execute such transactions through any bank account offering the UPI facility. No additional wallet subscription is needed. Hence, your money in the bank account keeps earning interest instead of being blocked in a digital wallet.

Focus on security 

Typically, smartphones and card readers use near-field technology, where there are chances of fraud. In the sound wave technology used by ToneTag, the waves are encrypted to avoid contactless payments, thereby reducing frauds, according to the company.

Voice technology is a cheaper alternative too, as it uses the car’s infotainment system and doesn’t need additional speakers or devices, says Singh.

Know your Fastag balance

Apart from helping you refuel, the system also lets you monitor your real-time Fastag balance. "Often we hear complaints that a person doesn’t know until he reaches a toll booth that the Fastag balance is low and the card has been blacklisted, which causes payment rejections and delays at the toll booth," says Singh.

Once you are alerted about the Fastag balance, you can reload it using your car's infotainment system and voice commands without having to stop driving the car. It is a two-switch process to ensure the driver’s attention isn’t diverted.

Only for newly-launched cars

While ToneTag has tied up with MG Hector to have this feature built in, the feature will soon be available in other internet-enabled cars too.

However, he clarified that this payment technology would be integrated only in new cars that would be launched in the future.

Future of pay-by-car

Apart from fuel, you can use the infotainment payment system to book coffee at a nearby café or pick up food. The ToneTag system will alert the café/restaurant about your order and your estimated arrival time using GPS. When you reach the café/restaurant you won’t have to wait for your order or pay at the centre. You can use the pay-by-car feature and enjoy the coffee or meal at the drive-in or table. Grocery store payments, especially drive-in-drive-out ones, could be another use.

Provision for refunds 

But what if you paid for your fuel or meal and got led to a different path and couldn’t access the petrol station or restaurant?

In such a case, the money is refunded to you as per the regulations that govern ONDC and e-commerce. Interest, as applicable, will be charged if refunds aren’t sent within 48 hours to seven days.

Privacy concerns

While the technology can revolutionise payments, one is concerned about passwords being protected while keying them in the presence of other passengers.

The pay-by-car technology also has a facility where you can use the car-company app, MG Pay, to enter the password using your phone.

Also, when the car is sent for maintenance or servicing, one can disable the payments using the app.

What if the car is stolen? "You can wipe off the entire transaction history and details using the phone. You simply need to give a missed call to a set number to disable the app and wipe out the data," he adds.