New Toll Plaza Rules Impose Heavy Fees on Overloaded Vehicles
The central government introduced stricter toll rules for overloaded vehicles on national highways to reduce road accidents, protect infrastructure, and improve compliance through certified weighing systems and FASTag payments.
- New toll plaza rules target overloaded vehicles
- Heavy toll fees imposed for excess vehicle load
- Government aims to reduce highway accidents and damage
The central government has started enforcing stricter toll regulations for overloaded vehicles travelling on national highways in an effort to reduce accidents and prevent severe road damage. The revised rules, introduced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, came into effect from April 15.
Officials said the decision was taken after repeated concerns over overloaded commercial vehicles causing highway accidents and damaging road infrastructure across the country. The new policy currently applies only at toll plazas operated by the National Highways Authority of India.
Under the updated system, toll charges will now depend on the percentage of excess load carried by a vehicle. Vehicles carrying up to 10 percent extra load will not face any additional fee. However, vehicles exceeding the limit by 10 to 40 percent will have to pay double the normal toll amount.
Authorities also announced stricter penalties for vehicles carrying more than 40 percent excess load. Such vehicles will be charged four times the standard toll fee. Officials believe the higher penalties will encourage transport operators to follow permitted loading limits more carefully.
To ensure accurate implementation, certified weighing machines installed at toll plazas will be used to check vehicle loads. The ministry clarified that if a toll plaza does not have proper weighing facilities, overloaded vehicle charges cannot be collected at that location.
The government has directed all national highway toll plazas to use weighing systems for heavy vehicles and collect the additional fees only through FASTag transactions. Details of vehicles violating the loading norms will also be recorded in the National Vehicle Register portal for monitoring and enforcement purposes.
