Breaking: Centre notifies new rules, overloaded vehicles to face up to 4x toll charges
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, April 14, 2026: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has introduced new rules to tighten checks on overloaded vehicles and streamline toll collection on National Highways.
The revised regulations—titled the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2026—will come into effect from April 15, 2026. The move is aimed at improving road safety, ensuring fair fee collection, and reducing damage caused by overloading.
Under the updated framework, vehicles carrying up to 10 percent excess load will not face any additional charge. However, those exceeding 10 percent and up to 40 percent overload will be required to pay double the base toll rate, while vehicles carrying more than 40 percent excess weight will be charged four times the standard rate.
To ensure transparency, overloading will be assessed using certified weighment systems installed at toll plazas. The ministry has clarified that no overload fee will be collected at locations where such facilities are not available.
In a push toward digital enforcement, all penalties will be collected exclusively through FASTag, and details of violations will be recorded in the national vehicle database under VAHAN.
The notification also states that vehicles entering highways without a valid FASTag will face action under existing provisions. However, certain older highway projects developed under private investment models may be exempt unless operators voluntarily adopt the new rules.