Cash payments at toll plazas on national highways will be discontinued from April 10, with authorities mandating digital transactions to streamline traffic flow and reduce congestion.
The road transport and highways ministry, in a gazette notification, said that vehicles without a valid FASTag can still pay toll charges via Unified Payment Interface (UPI), but at a higher cost of 1.25 times the applicable fee.
A senior NHAI official said that the move is aimed at reducing long queues at toll gates and make highway travel smoother for commuters.
The official said that cash payments will no longer be accepted at the toll booths from April 10 and FASTag will remain the primary mode of toll collection, while UPI will serve as the fallback payment option for vehicles that arrive without a valid FASTag.
"If the user of a vehicle enters a fee plaza without a FASTag or a valid functional FASTag, as the case may be, and opts to pay fee through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), he shall pay 1.25 times of the user fee applicable to that category of vehicle in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (2) of rule 4." "Provided that if the owner or driver of the vehicle does not opt to pay a fee in the manner specified under this rule, such vehicle shall be dealt in accordance with rule 14," the notification said.
Recently, NHAI also crossed 50 lakh subscribers for its FASTag annual pass, which allows users to make up to 200 toll crossings for Rs 3,000 per year. Since its launch on August 15, a total of 26.55 crore transactions have been carried out through these passes.
There are over 1,150 fee plazas on various National Highways and Expressways in the country.