New Delhi: Eligible private-vehicle owners will have a new annual local toll pass option from November 1, 2026, costing Rs 1,500 where the fee plaza lies outside municipal or local town limits and Rs 3,000 where it lies within those limits.
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has notified the concession for non-commercial vehicles with a valid, functional FASTag. It applies only to the specific local fee plaza for which the pass is issued. Eligible owners may choose this annual option or the existing monthly pass under the rules.
Eligibility distance: Hindi says 30 km, English says 20 km
The official Gazette contains a material difference between its two language texts. The Hindi clause on page 1 states that the owner must reside within 30 kilometres of the plaza. The English version on page 3 says 20 kilometres. Both appear in the same notification, G.S.R. 917(E), dated October 26, 2026.
The differing radii should not be treated as interchangeable or as a confirmed extension to 30 km. Residents, particularly those living between 20 km and 30 km from a plaza, need clarification of the applicable eligibility rule before relying on the concession.
Annual local toll pass fees
- Rs 1,500 a year: the fee plaza is outside a municipal or local town area.
- Rs 3,000 a year: the fee plaza is within a municipal or local town area.
The distinction depends on the plaza’s location. The pass is valid for that particular plaza, rather than for all toll plazas along a journey or across the country.
Where the concession is excluded
The notification excludes national highways or expressways where toll is levied through a closed user-fee collection system. It also says no concessional local pass will be issued where a service road or alternative road is available for the driver, owner or person in charge of the vehicle to use.
The amendment does not provide a list of eligible plazas in Bengaluru, Karnataka or Delhi-NCR. A nearby plaza’s inclusion cannot therefore be assumed merely from its distance from a resident’s home.
What changes from November 1?
The National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2026 insert the new concessional local-pass provision into rule 9 of the 2008 fee rules. They take effect on November 1; the notification does not make this new annual concession effective immediately.
The Centre may revise the specified rates annually on April 1. This is a power to revise the fees, rather than an announcement of an automatic increase every year.
Applicants should confirm the relevant plaza, vehicle and residence eligibility, the applicable distance rule, and whether either exclusion applies. The notification does not spell out a new application portal, a document checklist or an automatic activation process.
Read the two Hindi Gazette pages
