New Delhi: Non-FASTag users, who pay through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), will be charged lesser penalty at toll plazas, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced.
While FASTag has become popular among motorists, there are some who do not use the facility as they do not travel on highways frequently. Such people are charged twice the toll at plazas.
Under the new rules, those using UPI to pay toll will be charged only 25% extra. This means if the toll is Rs 100, these people will have to pay Rs 125 instead of Rs 200 for those who use cash.
This rule will come into effect from November 15, 2025.
This move aims to plug the cash leakages during toll collections on national highways. That said, it appears that non-FASTag users paying via cash will still have to cough up double the amount as a penalty. The government wants to do away with cash payments altogether.
It has also been decided that if a vehicle has a valid FASTag but the toll collection system fails to identify the same, the motorist will be allowed to cross the toll plaza without making any payment. The move aims to make toll operators more accountable for operating and maintaining the toll collection systems.
Nearly 98% of highway users have adopted FASTag. This has helped bring down the average wait time at toll plazas to 47 seconds in 2022, according to government estimates.
The ministry had introduced the FASTag Annual Pass recently. This pass costs Rs 3,000 annually and allows 200 trips on national highways and expressways. More recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) issued an update allowing FASTag Annual Pass users to port to a new FASTag in case of damage.