National highway toll booths go fully digital

With the government formalizing a cashless tolling system across the national highway network, all user fee payments at national highway toll plazas across India are now processed exclusively through digital modes, including FASTag and the Unified Payments Interface with effect from April 10, 2026. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the system came into effect marking the complete phase-out of cash payments at toll plazas.

The move is aimed at improving efficiency and transparency, reducing congestion, and enabling smoother traffic flow on national highways.

According to officials, the change also strengthens real-time monitoring of toll transactions and reduces manual handling errors.

The rollout covers more than 1,150 toll plazas across the country, making it one of the largest coordinated shifts to fully digital toll collection in India’s highway network.

Under the new system, FASTag, an RFID-based electronic toll collection mechanism linked to a prepaid or bank account, remains the primary mode of payment. The system is already widely adopted, with FASTag penetration reported at over 98 per cent, making the transition largely a formalization of existing usage patterns rather than a sudden operational shift.

Motorists without a valid FASTag can still make payments through UPI-based digital methods, but they will be charged 1.25 times the applicable toll fee. This penalty structure is intended to encourage universal FASTag adoption; however, it has drawn criticism for imposing an additional financial burden on non-FASTag users, especially occasional highway travellers and those affected by technical issues such as faulty tags or payment failures.