New Delhi: In a major stride towards enhancing commuter convenience and making highway travel more economically viable, the government has introduced a two-pronged strategy involving revised toll calculations and a new annual FASTag pass. These initiatives underscore a concerted effort by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to foster smarter road management and reduce the financial burden on motorists.

A key aspect of this reform is a reduction of up to 50 per cent in toll rates on specific National Highway sections characterised by costly infrastructure such as tunnels, bridges, flyovers, and elevated roads. The Ministry has formally amended the National Highways Fee Rules, 2008, establishing a new formula designed to significantly lower fees on these predominantly expensive structures. The revised rule dictates that for sections including such structures, the toll will now be calculated based on the lesser of two values: either ten times the length of the structures or five times the total length of the highway section. For instance, a 40-kilometre stretch entirely composed of bridges or flyovers will now have its toll calculated on 200 kilometres, effectively halving the previous rate, which charged ten times the standard toll per kilometre for such high-cost infrastructure.

Complementing this toll reform, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari last month announced a pioneering FASTag-based annual pass, designed specifically for private vehicles. Priced at Rs 3,000, this innovative pass will become available from August 15 of this year. Tailored for non-commercial private vehicles like cars, jeeps, and vans, the pass ensures hassle-free travel and will remain valid for one year from its activation date or until 200 trips are completed, whichever benchmark is reached first. This move is set to further streamline highway journeys and contribute to a more efficient and user-friendly tolling system.

With inputs from IANS