Centre Proposes 50% Toll Cut on Two-Lane Highway Expansions to Ease Commuter Burden

As part of a drive to ease hardship to users of highways during a construction period, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is proposing a 50% reduction in highway toll for two-laned national highways expected to be expanded to four lanes. Once this proposal is accepted, tolls will drop from the existing 60% to just 30% of the lifeblood fee during the construction stage.

The proposal is under the consideration of the finance ministry and covers stretches of 10 metres in width of two-lane highways without median pavements along either side. In the absence of a divider, these roads offer further reduced service levels when the construction period begins. The idea is that during such upgrades, commuters are relegated to narrower and heavier traffic corridors, necessitating temporary toll relief.

At present, all users pay 60% of the normal toll rates even during construction, where the quality of the road is compromised. For more significant highway upgrades, such as those from four to six lanes or from six to eight lanes, the construction phase is capped at 75% of normal tolls.

Such a demand to rationalize the levying of toll comes at a very crucial moment: just now, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced a massive scheme to turn 25,000 km of two-lane highways into four-lane corridors, with a huge investment of ₹10 lakh crore that will take place during the next two years. This is part of a wider attempt to improve most of the nearly 80,000 km of two-lane roads and two-lane roads with paved shoulders, which account for more than half of the overall 1.46 lakh kilometers of the national highways network in India.

Toll pricing has long been a contentious issue. Courts have, in some cases, questioned the justification for full or partial tolls during ongoing construction when service levels are poor.

To further support commuters, the government had earlier rolled out a ₹3,000 annual toll pass for private vehicles, allowing access through up to 200 toll plazas per year. In another relief, new rules now permit up to 50% toll reduction on key structures like tunnels, bridges, flyovers, and elevated highway sections, particularly benefiting commercial and heavy vehicles.