Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the system will combine vehicle number-plate recognition with Fastag for toll collection and make it a more seamless experience without the need for a halt at the toll plaza.
With AI and free-flow tolling, India will be moving from stopping at toll plazas to simply passing through them as the highway of tomorrow will be more intelligent, seamless and cashless, he said at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai on Friday.
Next phase
The next phase will be to eliminate the remaining delays while also boosting toll collection, he added.India’s shift to electronic tolling through Fastag has delivered visible results since its launch in 2016 as part of the government’s effort to modernise toll payments and improve the experience at toll plazas. Fastag was made mandatory in 2021, accelerating the shift from cash-based payments to electronic toll collection across the national highway network.
Gadkari said the new system could generate a significant increase in toll collections. “The tolling systems that we will implement where the number plate and Fastag both will be used will lead to an incremental increase of ₹10,000 crore in toll revenues annually,” he said.
Radio-frequency technology
Fastag uses radio-frequency identification technology to automatically deduct toll charges from a linked account as vehicles pass through toll plazas. Its adoption has reduced reliance on cash payments and helped streamline toll collection.The government is also pursuing technology-led tolling solutions as it seeks to improve collection efficiency and reduce leakages across the national highway network. It is now looking to combine Fastag data with automatic number-plate recognition to strengthen the identification and tracking of vehicles on tolled stretches.
“The combined system of Fastag data with automatic number-plate is expected to add an incremental ₹10,000 crore to toll revenues annually,” Gadkari said.
He added that Fastag-enabled tolling has saved the country an estimated 71 crore hours annually, translating into an economic value of roughly ₹68,500 crore a year.
He called for Fastag, UPI and Aadhaar-linked mobility data to be brought together into a single connected ecosystem, describing the ambition as moving from digital payments to intelligent mobility. He also flagged road safety as a priority, citing the high annual toll of road accidents in the country.
Published on September 11, 2026