Cash counters closed
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways moved national highway plazas to a zero-cash footing. There is no cash lane to fall back on.
Roll up to the toll.
Never stop.
SBI FASTag is a prepaid toll tag that sits on your windscreen. A reader at the plaza finds it, takes the fee and lifts the barrier while you are still moving. Since April 2026 the cash lanes are closed, so the tag is no longer the convenient option — it is the road.
Cash is no longer accepted at national highway toll plazas
FASTagLANE ONLY
TN 72 AB 1234
Mandatory on four-wheelersRequired for all four-wheeled vehicles on national highways under NHAI and MoRTH rules.
Cash lanes closed since April 2026National highway plazas take FASTag, or a digital fallback that costs about 25% more.
One tag, the whole countryThe national network carries the tag, so the plaza does not care which bank issued it.
0+
Toll plazas on the network
where the Annual Pass was rolled out
0
Plazas taking the Local Pass
₹350 a month, 20 km radius
0
Crossings on an Annual Pass
or twelve months, whichever ends first
0%
Added if your tag fails
convenience charge on the digital fallback
01
What SBI FASTag actually is
A sticker with an aerial in it, and a prepaid wallet behind it. That is the whole product. Everything else is what the road does with those two things.
A passive RFID tag
No battery and nothing to charge. It borrows the radio field the plaza aerial throws out, and answers with its number and vehicle class. It should sit inside the windscreen, top centre.
A prepaid wallet
You keep a balance on it. The toll leaves that balance, not your bank account, and an SMS lands for every deduction so nothing happens quietly.
Tied to one vehicle
The tag is written to your registration number and class. Under One Vehicle, One FASTag only one active tag is allowed per chassis — that rule is what stops double deductions.
02
What happens in that one second
Four parties take part in every crossing. The whole exchange is finished long before you would have reached for your wallet.
01
The gantry wakes the tag
An aerial above the lane throws out a radio field. The tag borrows it and answers with its number and vehicle class. A camera reads the number plate at the same moment.
02
The network finds your bank
The plaza hands the request to the national toll switch, which checks the tag is live and not blocked, then routes it to the issuing bank.
03
The bank pays the toll
Your wallet is checked against the fee set for your class at that plaza, the amount is deducted, and the approval goes back down the line.
04
The barrier lifts
The lane signal turns green and an SMS reaches your phone with the amount and the plaza name. At barrier-free plazas there is nothing to lift — you simply keep driving.
03
What changed in 2026, and what it costs you
This was the year tolling stopped being forgiving. Cash went, the clock rules arrived, and a tag that is merely present is no longer enough — it has to be funded, verified and matched to the vehicle.
The digital fallback adds about 25%
Arrive without a working tag and you can usually still pay digitally, but with a convenience charge of roughly a quarter on top of the posted toll.
A blacklisted tag can pay double
Blocked, inactive or blacklisted tags may be charged double the normal toll at the lane. Fixing the tag is always cheaper than crossing with it.
A window to top up
A low or newly blacklisted tag generally has a short grace window — around 70 minutes — in which a recharge can clear the problem before you reach the lane.
Then it is refused
A tag that has been blacklisted or inactive beyond roughly an hour can simply be rejected at the plaza, whatever balance you add afterwards.
Slow settlement is charged
If a lane transaction does not settle inside about a quarter of an hour, additional charges can attach to the crossing.
Full KYC is not optional
Identity, registration number and contact details must be verified. Incomplete or stale KYC is grounds for suspending the tag until it is put right.
KYV dropped for private cars
The Know Your Vehicle step is no longer a routine requirement after activation for tags issued to cars, jeeps and vans — one less hurdle on a new tag.
Tag and registration must agree
Linkage between the tag and the vehicle registration number is checked more tightly. A mismatch shows up as a failed transaction or a penalty, not a warning.
04
Two passes that can beat paying per crossing
If you drive the same highways often, NHAI now sells two prepaid passes that sit on top of your existing tag. Both are bought through the RajmargYatra app or the NHAI website — not from a plaza counter.
Annual Pass
₹3,075 / year
- 200 crossings or 12 months, whichever comes first.
- Non-commercial private vehicles — cars, jeeps and vans.
- Valid at NHAI-operated national highway and expressway plazas.
- Revised from ₹3,000 to ₹3,075 with effect from 1 April 2026.
- Not a universal pass — state and private toll roads are outside it.
Local Pass
₹350 / month
- For residents living within about 20 km of a covered plaza.
- Extended to roughly 121 toll plazas across India.
- Applied for digitally — no counter visit, no paper form.
- Built for the daily commute across one plaza, not long-distance driving.
- Eligibility depends on your address and the specific plaza.
05
Every vehicle that pays a toll has a class
The class written into the tag decides your rate, because the reader never weighs anything or counts axles. It must match the registration certificate — too light and the plaza flags it, too heavy and you quietly overpay on every trip.
| Vehicle | Class | Tag colour | Weight band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car, jeep, van | VC4 | Violet | Under 7,500 kg |
| Light commercial, mini-bus | VC5 | Orange | 7,500 – 12,000 kg |
| Two-axle truck or bus | VC7 | Green | 12,000 – 16,200 kg |
| Three-axle truck or bus | VC6 | Yellow | 16,200 – 25,000 kg |
| Four to six axles | VC12 | Pink | 25,000 – 54,200 kg |
| Seven axles and above | VC15 | Blue | Above 54,200 kg |
| Earth-moving machinery | VC20 | Grey | As registered |
| Two-wheelers | — | No tag issued | Exempt from toll |
06
The barrier is going away
Multi-Lane Free Flow tolling reads your tag from an overhead gantry at full highway speed. There is no boom, no lane to pick and nothing to slow for — the crossing simply appears on your statement. It started in 2026 and is being pushed nationwide.
May 2026 · Gujarat
India's first MLFF plaza
Chorayasi toll plaza on the Surat–Bharuch section of NH-48 became the first barrier-less tolling point in the country.
2026 · Delhi
Mundka Bakkarwala, UER-II
The Urban Extension Road-II site followed, taking the system into dense city-edge traffic rather than open highway.
20 June 2026 · NH-48
Daulatpura, Delhi–Jaipur
One of the busiest corridors in northern India joined, which is the real test of reading tags at speed and volume.
Target · End 2026
Pan-India rollout
NHAI and IHMCL are working toward national coverage. The first phase runs as a hybrid: FASTag stays the primary method, with satellite positioning used to validate the crossing.
07
Keeping the tag working
Almost every problem at a plaza comes down to one of four things. None of them takes long to put right, and all of them are cheaper to fix before the trip than at the lane.
Balance
A short balance is the most common failure. Top up through your banking app, UPI or net banking, and keep a buffer above a single crossing.
KYC
Keep identity, address and vehicle details current. Older accounts are being asked to re-verify, and a tag can be restricted until that is done.
Placement
Inside the windscreen, top centre, flat against the glass. Metallic or heavily tinted film can block the radio field entirely.
Status
One active tag per vehicle. If a second is issued the older one is blocked, so close what you are not using rather than leaving it dormant.
08
What the lane costs you
When a tag fails, the plaza falls back to a digital payment that carries a convenience charge on top of the posted toll. A working tag pays the plain rate. Put in what you spend on tolls in a month and see the gap.
₹
Indicative only. The comparison applies a 25% convenience charge to the digital fallback and assumes your tag is funded and working. Confirm current rates with the issuing bank or the highway authority.
With a working FASTag
₹4,000
The plain posted toll, nothing added.
On the digital fallback
₹5,000
The posted toll plus the convenience charge.
You keep, over a year
₹12,000
The difference, twelve months of the same driving.
09
Three ways through a plaza, and what each costs
Since April 2026 one of these no longer exists, one costs a quarter more, and one is the plain posted rate. Laid side by side the choice stops being a matter of preference.
| Working FASTag | Digital fallback | Cash | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay | Posted toll | Posted toll +25% | Not accepted |
| Do you stop? | No | Yes | — |
| Barrier-free lanes | Works | Fails | Fails |
| Record of the crossing | SMS, instantly | Receipt at the lane | — |
| If it goes wrong | 72-hour window to settle | Unpaid due against the vehicle | Turned away |
| Queue behind you | Keeps moving | Stops | — |
The fallback is not a plan
It exists so a failed tag does not strand you, not so you can skip getting one. On a barrier-free gantry there is nothing to stop at, so a vehicle with no working tag simply generates an unpaid crossing.
10
What you need to hand before you start
Four things, and the whole process is short. Most delays come from the registration certificate being unclear in a photograph, or the class being guessed rather than read off it.
Required
Registration certificate
The RC for the vehicle. It settles the registration number and the vehicle class, both of which are written into the tag.
Required
Identity proof
Commonly Aadhaar or PAN, for the KYC that is mandatory on every FASTag account.
Required
Passport photograph
A standard passport-size photograph for the account record.
Have ready
An opening balance
The prepaid wallet needs funding before the first crossing. Keep more than a single toll on it.
11
Questions people actually ask
The rules moved a good deal through 2026. These are the ones that change what you do at the plaza.
Is FASTag mandatory, and is cash really gone?
Yes on both counts. FASTag is mandatory for four-wheelers under NHAI and MoRTH rules, and from 10 April 2026 the cash counters at national highway toll plazas were closed. A vehicle arriving without a working tag generally pays a digital fallback with a convenience charge of about 25% added.
What does a new SBI FASTag cost?
A new tag involves a one-time issuance fee, a refundable security deposit and an opening balance. Those amounts are set by the issuing bank and change from time to time, so message us and we will tell you the figure that applies today rather than quote a number that may already be stale.
Is the ₹3,075 Annual Pass worth buying?
It covers 200 crossings or twelve months, whichever ends first, for a private car, jeep or van at NHAI-operated plazas. Divide ₹3,075 by the number of NHAI crossings you genuinely make in a year — if that works out below your usual per-crossing toll, it pays. It is not a universal pass: state highways and privately operated roads sit outside it.
What is the ₹350 Local Pass?
A monthly pass for people who live near a toll plaza and cross it constantly. It has been extended to around 121 plazas, and eligibility generally means living within about 20 km of the plaza concerned. It is applied for digitally rather than at a counter.
My tag did not scan. What went wrong?
Usually one of four things: the tag is not inside the windscreen at top centre, the balance is short, the tag has been blocked or blacklisted, or the windscreen carries a metallic or heavily tinted film that blocks the radio field. Check placement and balance first — between them they account for most failures.
Why is my tag blacklisted when it has money on it?
Balance is only one reason a tag is blocked. Incomplete KYC, a second tag issued against the same vehicle under the One Vehicle, One FASTag rule, or a mismatch between the tag and the registration number will all do it. A tag left blacklisted beyond roughly an hour can be refused at the lane whatever you add to it afterwards, so fix the underlying cause rather than just topping up.
What are the 70-minute and 15-minute rules?
They are timing rules introduced to stop last-second recharges being used to game the lane. In broad terms a low or newly blacklisted tag has a grace window of around 70 minutes in which a top-up can clear it, a tag blacklisted beyond about an hour can simply be rejected, and a lane transaction that does not settle within about 15 minutes can attract an extra charge.
Can I move my tag to a new vehicle?
No. The tag is written to one registration and cannot be peeled off and reused. The new vehicle needs its own tag, though the balance you are holding can generally be carried across. If you are selling the car, close the tag rather than leaving it live against a vehicle you no longer own.
What is the 72-hour e-notice?
If a payment fails at the plaza — usually a short balance — you are given a window of about 72 hours to settle it before it is recorded as an unpaid due against the vehicle. Settling inside the window keeps the record clean. Leaving it does not, and unpaid dues follow the vehicle rather than the driver.
What is MLFF or barrier-free tolling?
Multi-Lane Free Flow tolling uses overhead gantries with sensors and cameras to read your tag at full highway speed, with no boom to stop for. India's first went live at Chorayasi on the Surat–Bharuch stretch of NH-48 in May 2026, followed by sites in Delhi and on the Delhi–Jaipur corridor, with national coverage targeted by the end of 2026. A funded, working tag is what makes it work.
Do I still need the Know Your Vehicle step?
For tags issued to cars, jeeps and vans from 1 February 2026, KYV is no longer a routine step after activation. Full KYC is still required, and the tag still has to match the vehicle registration number.
Do two-wheelers need a FASTag?
No. Two-wheelers are exempt from toll on national highways and no FASTag class is issued for them. If you are offered a tag for a motorcycle, treat that as a warning sign about whoever is offering it.