The Business Factors News Desk
New Delhi, May 23, 2025: The central government is working on a new toll policy that is likely to bring a one-time payment system for all travel across National Highways for a year. The purpose of the move is to ensure a hassle-free movement for vehicles without the need to recharge them every time while making travelling smooth across Indian highways, the Pune Pulse reported.
According to the proposed toll policy, the owners of the vehicles will have two options for payment of their tolls: Annual Pass, Distance-Based Pricing.
In the Annual Pass method, a vehicle owner will have to recharge their FASTag with a one-time annual fee of Rs 3,000. With a one-time recharge, the vehicles will be able to travel unlimited kilometres for a year across national highways, state expressways, and expressways.
The owners will not require any additional documents, and the existing FASTag account will serve the purpose.
The government has also dropped a lifetime FASTag idea that earlier provisioned Rs 30,000 for 15 years.
Those who don't find it worth investing annually would have an option to choose a flat rate of Rs 50 per 100 km, replacing the current toll plaza system.
Barrier-free toll collection
One of the important aspects of the proposed toll policy is the elimination of toll plazas on the highways and expressways. The toll policy mulls implementing sensor-based toll collection.
How will contractors be compensated?
The one-time payment for unlimited travel is likely to affect the contractors of the existing projects, and hence, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will compensate them based on the digital record and a government-approved formula.
The new toll policy will also give additional powers to the banks to address toll evasion. They may invoke provisions like minimum balance and others.
Source: Shubham Bajpai report in www.jagran.com
