India to Introduce Annual & Lifetime Toll Passes For National highways and Expressways

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Jyoti
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Soon, recharging your vehicle’s FASTag repeatedly may be a thing of the past. The Government of India has proposed a scheme of annual and lifetime toll pass for private vehicles to ease toll payment on national highways and expressways. This scheme will be beneficial for those who frequently travel on highways and expressways. This will not only make paying toll cheaper, but will also make it easier to travel without stopping at the toll plaza.

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How much will the annual and lifetime toll pass cost?

According to a TOI report, the government has offered an annual toll pass, which can be purchased for a one-time payment of Rs 3,000. This pass will be valid for unlimited travel on all national highways and expressways for a full year.

Apart from this, the government has also planned a lifetime toll pass for 15 years, which will cost Rs 30,000. This new system will be integrated with the existing FASTag so that toll can be paid without any additional hassle.

What is the government’s intention?

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said last month that the government is considering introducing monthly and annual passes for private vehicles. He said that only 26 percent of the total toll collection comes from private cars. Gadkari said, “While 74 percent of the revenue comes from commercial vehicles. Therefore, the government is working on making toll payment easier for private cars.”

How will annual and lifetime toll pass work?

Annual toll pass

  • Cost: ₹3,000 per year
  • Fastag will be linked to the account
  • Unlimited travel facility for one year

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) aims to provide annual toll passes for private cars, which will cost users Rs 3,000 per year. The pass will be integrated into the vehicle’s existing FASTag account, giving the user unlimited access to national highways and expressways. After purchasing this pass, the user will not need to recharge his FASTag account repeatedly for the next one year. Once the validity of the pass expires, he can purchase or recharge another pass as per requirement.

Lifetime Toll Pass

  • Cost: ₹30,000 (for 15 years)
  • Fastag will be linked to the account
  • Once purchased, you don’t have to worry about paying toll for 15 years

The lifetime toll pass also works in a similar way. The only difference in this case is that the validity of this pass is for 15 years and its price is Rs 30,000. Like the annual pass, it will also be integrated into the user’s FASTag account.

Currently, a monthly pass is available for private cars for Rs 340 per month (total Rs 4,080 for 12 months). But it is valid only at one toll plaza. Whereas for Rs 3,000, you will get the facility of unlimited travel on highways and expressways across the country for a year. Which will make it much cheaper than the monthly pass.


What does the government want to achieve with this step?
  1. There will be less traffic congestion at toll plazas.
  2. The process of toll payment will be made easier.
  3. The government will not suffer any loss of revenue as the main income comes from commercial vehicles.
  4. Next plan to make toll payment easier
  5. The government is in the next phase of making toll collection completely digital and easy. FASTag was launched as a pilot project in 2014 and made mandatory for all vehicles from 2017. This reduced the need to stop at toll plazas and made the journey faster and convenient.
Now the government is working on a plan to introduce satellite-based toll collection system (Global Navigation Satellite System – GNSS). Under this technology:

  1. Toll will be charged based on the distance covered by the vehicle.
  2. Instead of FASTag, automatic toll will be deducted using GNSS technology.
  3. Facility of free travel on highway up to 20 kilometers daily can be availed.
  4. For journeys more than 20 kilometres, toll will be calculated by tracking the movement of the vehicle.
  5. With this new technology, toll plazas can be eliminated and toll payment will become completely digital and automatic.
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