From I-Day, you can buy FASTagbased ₹3,000 annual toll pass for private cars

From I-Day, you can buy FASTagbased ₹3,000 annual toll pass for private cars 

VALID ONLY ON NHs & GOVT EXPRESSWAYS 

Dipak.Dash@timesofindia.com 

New Delhi : In a big relief to the middle class and private car owners who frequently use national highways and expressways, govt on Wednesday announced roll out of a FASTagbased annual toll pass from Aug 15 for ₹3,000. The pass will be activated on existing FASTag and will be valid for a year from the date of activation or up to 200 trips, whichever is first.

Announcing the decision, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said it is expected to bring relief to users of NHs and expressways under Centre. “This will substantially eliminate toll-related difficulties that people faced and complained about for a long time. Till now, for 200 such trips, car users were paying around ₹10,000 a year. 

With the new pass system, they will save around ₹7,000 a year,” he said in a video message. Gadkari said the pass will be valid only on NHs and Centre’s expressways, and not on tolled state highways and expressways such as Ganga Expressway and Mumbai-Pune Expressway. 

In a gazette notification amending the NH Fee Rules published on Wednesday, the road transport ministry said the amount for obtaining the pass may be “revised” in April every year. NHAI will start accepting applications for the annual passes from mid July. 

It said that owners of private vehicles having a valid and functional FASTag will be eligible to obtain the pass paying the fee and it will be “valid for one year or for 200 crossings (read trips) through any fee plaza on a NH, whichever is earlier, irrespective of the fee leviable at each fee plaza.” 

It added that in a closed user fee collection system such as Delhi-Mumbai, Bangalore-Mysuru and Lucknow-Kanpur expressways and other new greenfield highways, entry and exit of a vehicle at a fee plaza will be considered a single trip. Ministry officials said the much-awaited intervention is aimed to simplify toll payments and reduce congestion at plazas across the country. 

The ministry said the policy was designed to address longstanding concerns regarding toll plazas located within a 60km range and to provide a seamless travel experience for private vehicle owners. Sources said the decision to launch annual passes for private cars was taken based on a detailed study of the toll collection data. As per analysis, while private cars constitute about 60% of the traffic on NHs, the share of toll revenue from these vehicles is barely in the range of 20-26%. The move was initiated considering car users are vocal while major chunk — nearly 79% — comes from commercial vehicles