If you have driven on a national highway recently, you may have noticed that cash is no longer being accepted at toll booths in most states. From April 10, all toll payments at national highway fee plazas across the country are being collected only through digital means, either FASTag or UPI. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced this change, saying it will reduce long queues at toll gates and make highway travel smoother, according to a senior NHAI official.
However, there are few states where you can still pay by cash. Are you wondering why?
NHAI’s digital-only mandate: Which states are exempt, and why
However, not everyone is covered by this rule just yet. According to a PIB release dated April 11, the states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, along with the Union Territory of Puducherry, aren’t part of this transition just yet.
The reason is the Model Code of Conduct. These states and the UT are currently in the middle of an electoral process, and the Model Code of Conduct is in force there. Since announcing and implementing a major policy change in regions under the MCC could be seen as influencing voters or creating administrative complications during elections, the government has chosen to hold off until the elections are over, the PIB release said.
So if you are travelling on national highways in these regions this month, cash payments may still be an option at toll plazas there.
What happens if you don’t have FASTag
For the rest of the country, FASTag remains the primary way to pay tolls. But if your vehicle does not have a valid FASTag, you are not completely stuck; you can still pay through UPI. The catch, however, is that you will be charged more for it.
There are more than 1,150 fee plazas across national highways and expressways in India that fall under this new system.
As per a gazette notification by the Ministry, a vehicle entering a fee plaza without a valid FASTag and opting to pay via UPI will be charged 1.25 times the applicable toll fee for that vehicle category. In other words, you end up paying 25% extra for not having a FASTag. And if you neither have a FASTag nor choose to pay via UPI, the vehicle will be dealt with under the rules that govern non-payment of toll fees.
The FASTag annual pass
For frequent highway users, NHAI has also been pushing its FASTag annual pass, which allows up to 200 toll crossings for Rs 3,000 per year. The scheme was launched on August 15 and has since crossed 50 lakh subscribers, with a total of 26.55 crore transactions recorded through these passes, according to NHAI.