Union Minister Gadkari Announces Nationwide Barrier-Free Electronic Toll Collection by 2026

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced on December 4, 2025, that India will permanently dismantle the decades-old physical toll plaza system within the next twelve months, ushering in a completely barrier-free, contactless electronic toll collection regime across the entire national highway network. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he described the move as a decisive step toward eliminating one of the most persistent sources of delay and frustration for millions of motorists, commercial vehicles, and logistics operators who currently lose hours every year waiting at toll booths.

The minister revealed that the new generation barrier-less system, already operational at ten pilot locations, relies on advanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology combined with the existing FASTag infrastructure. Unlike the current RFID-based FASTag lanes that still require vehicles to slow down to 20–30 km/h, the forthcoming system will deduct tolls automatically based on the exact distance travelled on controlled-access highways, allowing vehicles to maintain highway speeds without any physical or virtual gantries interrupting flow.

At the heart of the transformation lies the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) platform developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in coordination with the National Highways Authority of India. Once fully rolled out, number-plate recognition cameras and satellite-based tracking will calculate charges in real time, debiting linked bank accounts or digital wallets seamlessly. Gadkari emphasised that the shift will not only end serpentine queues but also curb revenue leakage, reduce carbon emissions from idling vehicles, and generate more accurate data for future highway planning.

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Parallel to this technological leap, the ministry is executing an unprecedented 4,500 ongoing highway projects collectively valued at Rs 10 lakh crore, spanning new expressways, bypasses, and elevated corridors. The removal of physical toll plazas will complement this expansion by ensuring that newly built infrastructure delivers its full economic potential without bottlenecks, potentially saving the nation billions annually in lost productivity and fuel wastage.

When completed by the end of 2026, India will operate one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated distance-based tolling ecosystems, marking the end of an era defined by cash transactions and long waits, and establishing a new benchmark for seamless, digitally enabled highway travel across the subcontinent.

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