Vehicle without FASTag? Payment made via UPI will be charged 1.25 times applicable user fee, but…

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced on Saturday that it has amended National Highways Fee for vehicles entering toll plaza without a valid and functional FASTag.

Effective from November 15, 2025, vehicle owners who are non-FASTag users will have to pay 1.25 times of the regular toll amount when they opt to pay using UPI. This amount is comparatively lesser than for those who pay in cash.

However, if paying in cash, vehicle owners without a valid FASTag are required to pay double the applicable user fee.

This initiative is a part of the broader strategy to reduce cash transactions at the user fee plazas on National Highways.

UPI offers a cheaper alternative to cash payment

In a statement, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that in a significant step to incentivise digital payments and eliminate cash transactions at the user fee plazas on National Highways for non-FASTag users, the Government of India has amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.

Under the newly amended rule, vehicles that enter a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag will be required to pay twice the applicable user fee, if the fee payment is made in cash. “Such users who opt to pay the fee via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), will be charged only 1.25 times the applicable user fee for that category of the vehicle,” the statement said.

Objective of the amendment

The statement also noted that the revised rules will not only encourage the adoption of digital payments, but also enhance transparency in toll operations, along with substantially improving the overall user experience on National Highways.

This notification is scheduled to come into effect from November 15, 2025 and from that date onward, all vehicles will be eligible to benefit from the updated regulations when passing through toll plazas.