Drive 20 Km Toll-Free: Satellite-based System Makes Short Journey Cost-Free, Here’s How It Works

Owners of private vehicles equipped with a functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will not be charged any amount for travelling up to 20 km on highways and expressways per day, according to a government notification.

Drivers will not incur any charges for journeys up to 20 kilometres. However, if the distance exceeds this limit, a fee will be applied based on the total distance travelled.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Tuesday amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.

Zero-Toll for Short Distances

Under the new regulations, known as the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules, 2024, fees will now be charged on the actual distance travelled if the distance exceeds 20 kilometres.

New Regulations

National Highways Fee Amendment Rules, 2024: Key Points

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways: The ministry amended the National Highways Fee Rules in 2024.
• Distance-Based Tolling: Fees will be charged based on the actual distance travelled on national highways, permanent bridges, bypasses, or tunnels.
• Zero-User Fee for Short Distances: Vehicles travelling less than 20 kilometres in a day will not be charged a fee.
• Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-Based Tolling: A GNSS-based system will be used to track vehicle movements and determine fees.
• Exclusive Lanes for GNSS-Equipped Vehicles: Dedicated lanes may be created for vehicles equipped with GNSS On-Board Units.
• Penalty for Entering Exclusive Lanes Without GNSS Unit: Vehicles entering these lanes without a valid GNSS unit will be charged double the applicable user fee.
• Bengaluru-Mysore and Panipat-Hisar: Pilot studies were conducted on these highway sections.
• Effective Date: The implementation date of the new toll system has not been announced.

Distance-Based Tolling

“A driver, owner or person in charge of a mechanical vehicle other than National Permit vehicle who makes use of the same section of national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or tunnel, as the case may be, shall be levied a zero-user fee up to 20 kilometres of journey in each direction in a day under Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system and if the distance travelled is more than 20 kilometres, then fee will be charged for actual distance travelled,” the notification said.

GNSS-Based Tolling

“Provided also that exclusive lane can be earmarked for Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit fitted vehicle and in case vehicle enters such lane, without a valid, functional Global Navigation Satellite System On-Board Unit, shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the user fee applicable at that fee plaza,” read the notification.

Pilot Implementation

The road ministry in July had said it has decided to initially implement a GNSS-based toll collection system at select national highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag.

“It has been decided to initially implement the GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System at selected sections of National Highways on a pilot basis as an added facility along with FASTag,” the notification read.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that a pilot study about a GNSS-based user fee collection system has been done on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.

Stakeholder Consultation

Gadkari had said a stakeholder consultation through an international workshop was organised on June 25, 2024, and global expression of interest (EOI) was invited for wider industrial consultation on June 7, 2024, with the last date of submission as July 22, 2024.