Govt reduces toll charges by up to 50% on national highways with bridges and tunnels

The Indian government has reduced the toll rates by up to 50 per cent for the sections of national highways that have structures such as tunnels, bridges, flyovers or elevated stretches. This move is slated to lower the travelling costs for the motorists. The user fees at toll plazas on national highways are collected according to the NH Fee Rules 2008. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has made amendments to the 2008 rules and notified a new method or formula for calculating toll charges on the national highways across India.

The notification dated July 2, 2025, says that the rate of fee for use of a section of national highway comprising of structure or structures shall be calculated by adding ten times the length of structure or structures to the length of the section of national highway excluding the length of structure or structures, or five times the total length of section of national highway, whichever is lesser. These structures mean an independent bridge, tunnel or flyover or elevated highway.

To explain the new toll charges, the ministry has cited examples. In one of the examples, it said that if a section of a national highway has a total length of 40 kilometres, comprising of structure alone, the minimum length shall be computed: '10 x 40 (ten times length of structure) = 400 kilometers or five times the total length of section of a national highway = 5 x 40 = 200 kilometers'. The user fee shall be calculated on the lesser length, i.e. for 200 kilometres, and not 400 kilometres. In this case, the user charge is only for half of the road length.

According to the extant rules, users pay ten times the regular toll for every kilometre of structure on national highways. The existing toll calculation method was meant to offset higher construction costs associated with such infrastructure.

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