NEW DELHI: A cheaper way to cross the toll plaza at the end of your own road takes effect today, November 1. Owners of non-commercial vehicles who live within 20 kilometres of a national highway fee plaza can now buy a Concessional Local Pass for a full year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in its announcement carried by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

Source: PIB — Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

The charge depends on where the plaza stands, not where the vehicle owner lives: ₹1,500 a year for a plaza located outside municipal or local town limits, and ₹3,000 a year where the plaza sits inside those limits. The pass is valid only at the one plaza it is issued for and cannot be transferred to any other plaza.

₹1,500Annual pass — plaza outside municipal limits
₹3,000Annual pass — plaza inside municipal limits
20 kmHome must be within this distance of the plaza
₹360 a monthExisting monthly local pass the annual pass replaces

The change was notified in the Gazette of India on October 26 through the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2026 — notification G.S.R. 917(E) — which inserts a new sub-rule in Rule 9 of the 2008 fee rules. Under it, an eligible owner can choose between the existing monthly pass and the new annual pass for the same vehicle.

Source: Times Drive

Eligibility is narrow. The vehicle must carry a valid, functional FASTag registered for non-commercial use — taxis, trucks and other commercial vehicles are out — and the owner's home must be within the 20 km radius. Living nearby alone is not enough: the concession will not be issued on national highways or expressways that run a closed user-fee collection system, and not where a service road or an alternative road is available to the resident.

For a daily local commuter, the arithmetic is the attraction. The existing monthly local pass costs ₹360, or ₹4,320 over twelve renewals; the annual pass cuts that to ₹1,500 or ₹3,000 in a single payment. The ministry may revise both rates once a year, with any revision taking effect on April 1.

Source: Autocar India

Do not confuse the two passes

This local pass works at one named plaza only. It is different from the separate nationwide FASTag Annual Pass (₹3,075 for 2026-27), which covers travel across participating national highway plazas for a year or 200 crossings.

The pass is available at eligible toll plazas from today, November 1, and will also be offered through the Rajmargyatra app from December 1, according to the ministry. How quickly individual plazas begin issuing it, and how they verify the 20 km distance and the alternative-road condition, will decide how smoothly the first month goes.