Mumbai, September 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India is set to move towards fully digital, barrier-free tolling on highways by February, under which motorists will no longer have to stop at toll plazas to pay road user charges, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.
Addressing the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai, Gadkari said the government is working on a technology-driven tolling system that will combine FASTag with vehicle number-plate recognition.
According to the minister, the integrated system is expected to significantly strengthen toll collection and could increase annual toll revenues by around Rs 10,000 crore.
“The tolling systems that we will implement where the number plate and FASTag both will be used will lead to an incremental increase of Rs 10,000 crore in toll revenues annually,” Gadkari said.
He said waiting times at toll plazas, which earlier stretched to around 12 minutes and in some cases up to 30 minutes, have already declined by 80–90 per cent following the introduction of FASTag.
The government is now looking to eliminate the remaining delays by allowing vehicles to pass through toll points without stopping. The proposed system will use FASTag data along with vehicle number plates to improve vehicle identification and tracking on tolled highway stretches.
Gadkari said FASTag has transformed toll collection by reducing queues, eliminating dependence on cash and change, and making payments more seamless and transparent.
FASTag was launched in 2016 as part of efforts to modernise toll payments and improve the experience for highway users. It was made mandatory in 2021, accelerating the transition from cash-based payments to electronic toll collection across the national highway network.
The system uses radio-frequency identification technology to automatically deduct toll charges from a linked account as a vehicle passes through a toll plaza.
Gadkari’s announcement marks the next phase in the government’s efforts to use digital technology to make highway travel and toll collection more efficient.
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