By next year, your highway journeys could get a lot smoother, as India moves towards a barrier-free, fully digital tolling process.Expected to be rolled out by February-March 2027, the new system will allow motorists to pass through toll points without stopping to pay the fee, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. “With AI and free-flow tolling, India is moving from stopping at toll plazas to simply moving through them. The highway of tomorrow is intelligent, seamless and cashless.”The system will combine vehicle number-plate recognition with FASTag for toll collection. FASTag has already reduced waiting times at toll plazas by 80-90%. from around 12 minutes earlier, and up to 30 minutes in some cases.Speaking at Global Fintech Fest 2026, Gadkari said that the next phase will eliminate the remaining delays while also boosting toll collections, with the new system expected to add Rs 10,000 crore annually to toll revenues.
How will it work?
The proposed tolling system will use information from both FASTag and vehicle number plates to identify and track vehicles on tolled stretches. The minister said that this will strengthen toll collection as the government moves towards a system where vehicles can continue moving through tolling points instead of stopping to pay.
FASTag penetration crosses 98%
Gadkari traced the move towards barrier-free tolling to the government’s efforts to make highway payments seamless, transparent and efficient. FASTag was started as a pilot project in 2014 and officially launched in 2016, before being made mandatory in 2021.Speaking at Global Fintech Fest 2026, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, says, “FASTag is one of the success stories…in 2014, we started this as a pilot project. Our objective for tolling was to make it seamless, transparent and efficient. In 2016, we officially launched it. In 2021, we made FASTag mandatory. And today, the results are before us. FASTag penetration at National Highway toll plazas is now more than 98 per cent. So far, more than 13 crore FASTags have been issued in the country.”FASTag uses radio-frequency identification technology to automatically deduct toll charges from a linked account as vehicles pass through toll plazas. Its adoption has reduced the reliance on cash and change and helped streamline toll collection.Today, more than 98% of National Highway user-fee collection happens digitally through FASTag, with around 13 crore FASTags issued in the country.
One Tag to let users switch banks
Alongside barrier-free tolling, the government is also introducing One Tag to make FASTag more convenient for users. Under the system, motorists will be able to change their bank without having to obtain a new FASTag.Earlier, changing banks meant purchasing a new FASTag and removing the existing one from the vehicle. One Tag is intended to work in a manner similar to mobile number portability, allowing users to switch banks while retaining the same tag.“The introduction of One Tag will make FASTag more convenient by allowing users to switch banks while continuing with the same FASTag. Earlier, users had to purchase a new FASTag and remove the old one from their vehicle. Now, this will work much like mobile number portability, switch your bank, keep your tag, and keep moving,” the minister said.
