How the Government Plans to Make Highway Travel Cheaper for Car Owners
How the Government Plans to Make Highway Travel Cheaper for Car Owners
In a bid to make highway travel more affordable for the general public, the road transport ministry has given the green light to a proposal that would waive toll charges on National Highways (NHs) with less than four lanes. This initiative, along with another plan to introduce annual toll passes for car owners priced at approximately Rs 3,000, has now been forwarded to the finance ministry for consideration.
An official from the road transport ministry stated that the proposals have been cleared internally and forwarded to the finance ministry’s expenditure division due to the potential impact on revenue. The official clarified that “the introduction of annual passes might lead to some dip in toll collections, but removing tolls from narrower highways is unlikely to affect overall earnings.”
Although Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India had previously discussed options like annual and lifetime passes for private vehicles, the ministry decided to move ahead only with the yearly option, anticipating stronger support from car users. The minister has consistently mentioned plans to introduce “significant benefits” for highway travelers soon, and expressed confidence that such steps would ensure “commuters have no more concerns.”
According to sources, the idea to eliminate tolls on two-lane and two-and-half-lane highways with paved shoulders was initiated by the minister during a performance review. He had instructed officials to examine the viability of the plan. Currently, toll rates on these stretches are ‘about 60% lower than those on four-lane or wider highways.’
According to reports by TOI, roughly 200 toll plazas are situated on such roads, and almost all are publicly funded, meaning toll collection is managed directly by government bodies.
“Often, the revenue collected from tolls on these roads doesn’t even cover the maintenance costs. Hence, removing tolls here is a logical step. The more complex situation arises with four-lane highways and expressways, where many toll booths are managed by private firms. If annual passes are introduced, the government would need to cover the resulting revenue shortfall,” a source explained.
Available data indicates that private vehicles contribute about 20-21% of the projected Rs 61,000 crore toll revenue for 2024-25, while “the majority 79-80% of toll income comes from freight and commercial vehicles.”
