Representative image. Chanduclicks, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Daily commuters who cross a national highway toll plaza near home can pay once a year instead of buying a pass every month. India TV put the monthly pass at ₹4,320 a year, so the new rates of ₹1,500 and ₹3,000 are lower, but the pass is barred wherever a service road or alternative road exists, so living nearby is not enough on its own.
A new toll plaza annual pass for people who live within 20 km of a national highway fee plaza comes into force on 1 November 2026. It costs ₹1,500 a year where the plaza sits outside municipal or local town limits and ₹3,000 a year where it sits inside them, under a notification the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) published in the Gazette of India on 26 October.
The ministry calls it a Concessional Local Pass. It works at one plaza only, it is for private vehicles with a FASTag, and it will not be issued everywhere. The notification lists two cases where it is barred, and those exceptions decide whether a nearby resident can actually get one.
What the toll plaza annual pass rule says
The notification, numbered G.S.R. 917(E), amends rule 9 of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, the rules that set toll rates on national highways. It is titled the Fifth Amendment Rules, 2026, and is signed by Joint Secretary Chetna Nand Singh.
It inserts a new sub-rule (3A). Under it, a person who owns a vehicle with a valid, working FASTag registered for non-commercial use, and who lives within twenty kilometres of a fee plaza, may choose between the existing monthly pass and the new concessional pass for that vehicle. The pass is valid only for commuting through that specific plaza.
The price depends on where the plaza stands, not where the owner lives. A plaza outside the limits of a municipal or local town area carries the ₹1,500 rate. A plaza inside those limits carries ₹3,000. The Centre may revise both rates every year on 1 April, the notification says.
The Hindi text of the gazette gives the same distance, twenty kilometres, as the English text.
Who qualifies for the concessional local pass, and who does not
Reading the conditions in the notification together, an owner needs all of the following:
- a vehicle with a valid, functional FASTag registered for non-commercial purposes, so taxis, trucks and other commercial vehicles are out;
- a home within 20 km of the fee plaza they want the pass for;
- a plaza that is not on a highway or expressway using the closed user fee collection system, where toll is charged by the distance between the entry and exit points;
- no service road or alternative road available to them for the trip.
The last condition reaches even people who live beside the plaza. A resident who can reach the same place by a service road beside the highway, or by another road, cannot be issued the pass even if they live next to the plaza. The notification does not say who decides whether such a road is available or how that is checked.
It also does not set out an application process, a list of documents or a portal. India.com, which went through the same rules, pointed readers to guidance from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) or the plaza itself once the facility starts. Owners who already hold a monthly pass keep that choice: the existing monthly pass under sub-rule (3) stays on the books.
How the new pass compares with the FASTag annual pass
The new local pass should not be confused with the national FASTag annual pass that NHAI launched on 15 August 2025. That pass now costs ₹3,075 for the 2026-27 financial year, up from ₹3,000, according to an NHAI revision reported by All India Radio’s News On AIR in March. It covers one year or 200 crossings, whichever comes first, at fee plazas on national highways and national expressways across the country.
India TV reported that more than 1 crore of those national passes have been issued and that they work at about 1,150 plazas. It put the current local monthly pass at ₹360 a month, or ₹4,320 a year. The gazette notification itself does not state the monthly pass rate.
| Pass | Price | Where it works | Cost per crossing (NewsPlainly) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concessional local pass, plaza outside town limits | ₹1,500 a year | One plaza | ₹2.50 at 600 crossings |
| Concessional local pass, plaza inside town limits | ₹3,000 a year | One plaza | ₹5.00 at 600 crossings |
| Local monthly pass | ₹360 a month, ₹4,320 a year (India TV) | One plaza | ₹7.20 at 600 crossings |
| FASTag annual pass | ₹3,075, one year or 200 crossings | National highway and expressway plazas across India | About ₹15.38 at 200 crossings |
NewsPlainly’s calculation assumes a commuter who crosses the same plaza twice a day, out and back, on 300 days a year, which is 600 crossings. At that rate the ₹1,500 pass works out to ₹2.50 a crossing and the ₹3,000 pass to ₹5.00. The FASTag annual pass, divided over its full 200 crossings, comes to about ₹15.38 each. The notification text does not mention a limit on crossings for the local pass, so the 600 figure is only an example.
Against India TV’s ₹4,320 a year for twelve monthly passes, the rural rate saves ₹2,820 and the urban rate saves ₹1,320, by the same arithmetic. The national pass still has one thing the local one lacks: it works at any covered plaza, not just the one near home.
What happens on 1 November
The rules take effect on 1 November 2026. From that date, an eligible owner can, on paper, pick the yearly concessional pass instead of buying a monthly pass twelve times. How quickly plazas start issuing it, and how they check the 20 km distance and the alternative road condition, is not covered in the notification.
The rate review on 1 April each year is a power, not an automatic increase. The national FASTag annual pass was revised this year as well, when NHAI raised it by ₹75 for 2026-27.
Car owners following other vehicle rule changes can read NewsPlainly’s 26 October report on the E100 flex fuel rules, which allow that fuel only in vehicles built and certified for it.
Frequently asked questions
Who can get the toll plaza annual pass?
An owner of a vehicle with a valid FASTag registered for non-commercial use who lives within 20 km of a national highway fee plaza, provided the road is not a closed-system tolled road and no service road or alternative road is available to them.
How much does the concessional local pass cost?
₹1,500 a year when the fee plaza is outside municipal or local town limits and ₹3,000 a year when it is inside them. It is valid only at that one plaza.
Is it the same as the FASTag annual pass?
No. The FASTag annual pass costs ₹3,075 for 2026-27 and covers one year or 200 crossings at national highway and expressway plazas across India. The local pass covers one plaza near home.
When does the new toll pass start?
The rules come into force on 1 November 2026, according to the MoRTH notification dated 26 October 2026.