| FASTag toll collections cross Rs 70,000 crore in FY26; barrier-free tolling on cards | | | Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 29: Toll collection on National Highways through the FASTag-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system crossed the Rs 70,000-crore mark in 2025-26, registering a steady year-on-year increase, the Government informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Replying to an unstarred question by Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said toll revenue collected through FASTag rose from Rs 55,882.12 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 61,408.15 crore in 2024-25, before reaching Rs 70,278.18 crore in 2025-26, reflecting the growing adoption of electronic toll collection and expanding National Highway infrastructure.
The Minister said the Government has simultaneously reviewed the toll pricing mechanism and introduced several policy measures to reduce the financial burden on commuters while making toll collection more efficient.
Among the major reforms, the Centre introduced an Annual Pass Scheme for non-commercial cars, jeeps and vans through a notification issued on June 17, 2025. The pass allows up to 200 crossings at National Highway toll plazas or one year of validity, whichever is earlier, for an annual fee of Rs 3,075 during the 2026-27 financial year.
The Government has also rationalised user fees for highways with a higher proportion of structures, reduced toll charges on upgraded highways, lowered the penalty for vehicles without FASTag or with inactive FASTag from twice the toll amount to 1.25 times if payment is made through UPI, and revised toll rates for partially operational national expressways.
Highlighting measures to improve traffic flow, Gadkari said all lanes at National Highway toll plazas have been operating as FASTag lanes since February 16, 2021, significantly reducing congestion.
According to the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) impact assessment conducted during 2024-25, the average time taken by a vehicle to cross a toll plaza has dropped to around 40 seconds, compared with 12.23 minutes under the earlier manual toll collection system. Toll plaza congestion is also being monitored through a GIS-based monitoring solution.
The Minister further informed the House that the Government is moving towards barrier-less toll collection through the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) system, which combines Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), Artificial Intelligence-based analytics and the existing FASTag (RFID) infrastructure. The technology will enable automatic deduction of toll charges without requiring vehicles to stop or slow down at toll plazas.
MLFF-based barrier-less tolling projects have already been awarded for 17 toll plazas, of which five are operational. These include Choryasi Fee Plaza in Surat (Gujarat), Mundka Fee Plaza in Delhi, Gharaunda Fee Plaza in Haryana, and Manoharpura and Daulatpura Fee Plazas in Rajasthan.
Gadkari said the Government has identified 104 toll plazas across the country for implementation of the barrier-less toll collection system in the coming phases. |
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