UPI payments to cost less than cash at NH tolls from Nov 15

Vehicles without functional FASTag will be charged twice the applicable user fee if paying in cash

New Delhi: Commuters not having a functional FASTag will now have to pay just 1.25 times the applicable fee at toll plazas on National Highways (NHs), if they pay through online mode using Unified Payment Interface (UPI), from November 15, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement on Saturday.

To incentivise digital payments and eliminate cash transactions at the user fee plazas on NHs for Non-FASTag users, the government of India has amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.

---

Under the new rule, vehicles entering a fee plaza without a valid, functional FASTag will be charged twice the applicable user fee if the fee payment is made in cash.

“Such users who opt to pay the fee via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) will be charged only 1.25 times the applicable user fee for that category of the vehicle,” the statement read. For example, if a vehicle needs to pay a user fee of Rs 100 through a valid FASTag, the fee will be Rs 200 if paid in cash and Rs 125 if paid via UPI.

This amendment aims to strengthen the fee collection process, enhance transparency in toll collection and promote ease of commuting for the National Highway users.

“This notification will come into effect from November 15, 2025,” the Ministry said. The latest amendment in the rules reflects the Government of India’s commitment to leveraging technology for efficient toll collection and reducing congestion at the toll plazas, the statement noted.

The revised rules will encourage the adoption of digital payments, enhance transparency in toll operations, and improve the overall user experience on National Highways.

On Independence Day this year, the government introduced a FASTag-based annual toll pass for private vehicles, priced at Rs 3,000. This service is available at toll plazas managed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India for cars, jeeps, and vans.

The pass is good for 200 toll trips or one year after it is activated, whichever comes first. The FASTag automatically transitions to standard pay-per-trip mode when the limit is reached. Each one-way crossing at a point-based toll plaza counts as one trip, and a return counts as two. A full journey from entry to exit is considered a single trip in closed or ticketed systems.

The pass will only be granted to cars, jeeps, and vans registered for personal use, and it is only valid for non-commercial private vehicles.