2. The first Digital Local Pass facility was launched in July 2026 at the Mundka-Bakkarwala toll plaza on Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) in Delhi.
3. The digital local pass facility is integrated with DigiLocker and VAHAN, which retrieve the commuter’s address to verify the 20-km radius condition, vehicle details and the linked FASTag to issue the pass. This removes the need for manual documentation and physical verification.
4. While the digital local pass is part of the government’s Digital India project, its implementation picked pace after the NHAI started implementing the MLFF system at its toll plazas.
5. The barrier-less tolling system is currently operational at six toll plazas, namely Choryasi, Mundaka, Daulatpura, Gharaunda, Manoharpur, and Shahjahanpur.
What is a multi-lane free flow tolling system?
(Infographic source: AI generated)
6. The MLFF system removes the need for boom barriers and vehicles to stop for toll collection. Instead, high-performance Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras read the FASTag and Vehicle Registration Number (VRN).
7. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, the MLFF is projected to be implemented across all four-lane and above national highways and expressways by March 2029.
8. Currently, there are around 1,100 user fee plazas or toll plazas across the country, out of which over 450 toll plazas were constructed in the last five years.
What were the enabling steps behind the implementation of MLFF?
9. The NHAI took a series of decisions that created an enabling platform for the rollout of MLFF. This was done to create a robust legal framework so that commuters do not find loopholes to avoid toll charges.
10. One of the earliest decisions was mandating the use of High Security Registration Plates (HSRP). This was to ensure that specially designed ANPR cameras can read number plates.
11. The other key decision was “One Vehicle, One FASTag”. It stopped the usage of a single FASTag for multiple vehicles or linking multiple FASTags to a particular vehicle.
12. In March, MoRTH issued new National Highway Fee rules to deal with cases of unpaid user fees, meaning the vehicle passed the toll but did not pay. It says that in such cases, commuters will have to pay double the applicable toll amount at the respective toll plaza. However, if it is paid within 72 hours, only the original user fee will apply.
13. An e-notice will be issued with the vehicle details, the date and location of occurrence and the user fee payable. The rules also provide for a grievance redressal mechanism, where a vehicle owner/driver dissatisfied with the e-notice can challenge it within 72 hours. If the challenge is not disposed of within five days by the tolling agency, the claim for the unpaid user fee shall lapse.
14. The rules also paved the way for integrating the National Electronic Toll Collection system with the National Vehicle Registry (VAHAN) for enforcement measures and the realisation of unpaid user fees.
15. Apart from this, in February 2026, NHAI issued a direction to all FASTag-issuing banks to immediately validate VRNs or license plate numbers linked to the FASTags they have issued. The agency also directed banks to blacklist FASTags found linked to incorrect or invalid VRNs.
16. The direction was issued because, in the absence of human intervention in the toll deduction system in MLFF at the toll gate, a mismatch in the VRN linked to the FASTag could see commuters pass without paying the fee.
What is FASTag?
1. FASTag is an electronic toll collection system managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the NHAI. A FASTag sticker is usually pasted on the windscreen of a car. It was launched in 2014 as a pilot project and made mandatory at every toll plaza in the country in 2021.
2. It uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to communicate with scanners installed at toll plazas. Once the car crosses a toll plaza, the requisite toll amount is automatically deducted from a bank account or a prepaid wallet linked to the FASTag.
3. RFID is a wireless tracking system that consists of tags and readers. Radio waves are used to communicate information/identity of objects or people to nearby readers – devices that can be hand-held or built into fixed positions like poles or buildings.
4. The tags can carry encrypted information, serial numbers and short descriptions. There are also high-memory tags like the ones designed for use in the aviation industry.
5. There are different types of RFID tags: Passive tags, semi-passive tags, and active tags. Active RFIDs use their own power source, mostly batteries. Active tags can ping information every few seconds like beacons, or they can get activated when a reader is in the proximity.
6. Passive RFIDs, on the other hand, are activated through the reader using the electromagnetic energy it transmits. This is enough power for the tag to transmit information back to the reader. Active tags have a longer read range, around 300 ft, compared to passive tags.
7. FASTag uses passive RFID tags. Semi-passive tags comprise an internal circuit with a power source, but rely on the radio waves received from the reader to transmit the response.
8. RFID tags use an integrated circuit and an antenna to communicate with a reader using radio waves at several different frequencies – low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and ultra-high frequency (UHF). The message sent back by the tag in the form of radio waves is translated into data and analysed by the host computer system.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: GNSS- based tolling system
1. Under the GNSS, the toll collection system works with the help of satellites and on-board unit (OBU) fitted vehicles.
2. The movement of the vehicle will be tracked by satellite, and users will pay toll only for the distance they have travelled, rather than the fixed amounts for set distances that they pay now.
3. For GNSS to work, owners have to get a non-transferable “on-board unit” (OBU) fitted in their vehicles.
4. The Apex Committee and High-Level Empowered Committee consisting of experts from Industry and Academia, in view of security and privacy considerations, breach and overall operational control, had recommended further deliberations for Satellite based Tolling in March, 2025.
5. After much deliberation, it was proposed to proceed with corridor/stretch-based projects for ANPR FASTag system (AFS)-based Barrier Less Free Flow tolling.
Post Read Questions
With reference to the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling system, consider the following statements:
1. MLFF eliminates the requirement of a physical toll barrier by identifying vehicles while they are in motion.
2. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) can together provide alternative means of identifying a vehicle in an MLFF system.
3. The implementation of MLFF makes High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) unnecessary, since the vehicle can be identified solely through its FASTag.
4. Integration of FASTag-related information with the VAHAN database can facilitate recovery of unpaid user fees.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 4 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (a)
“What is the technology being employed for electronic toll collection on highways? What are its advantages and limitations? What are the proposed changes that will make this process seamless? Would this transition carry any potential hazards?” (UPSC CSE, 2024)
(Sources: NHAI expands digital local toll pass to 121 plazas: Who is eligible, how to apply, Govt defers satellite-based tolling over ‘privacy concerns’, to go with barrier-free system, GNSS: How the new satellite-based highway toll collection system will work,
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Multi-Lane Free Flow technology enables toll collection without stopping at toll plazas, marking India’s next step in electronic highway toll collection. (File Photo enhanced using AI) 
(Infographic source: AI generated)
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