Local FASTag Annual Pass From 1 November — ₹1,500 a Year If You Live Within 20 km of a Toll Plaza

A Cheaper Pass for People Who Live Next to the Toll Booth

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified a concessional annual local pass for non-commercial vehicle owners who live within 20 km of a national highway fee plaza. It comes into force on 1 November 2026, and it will cost ₹1,500 a year at plazas outside municipal or local town limits and ₹3,000 a year at plazas inside those limits.

The change was made through the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 26 October. For a commuter who currently buys the ₹360 monthly local pass, the annual bill of ₹4,320 drops to ₹1,500 at a plaza outside town limits, a saving of ₹2,820 a year.

Pass option	Cost	Who it suits
Monthly local pass	₹360 a month, about ₹4,320 a year	Anyone who crosses the plaza daily but may move
Concessional local pass, plaza outside town limits	₹1,500 a year	Residents in villages and outskirts near a highway plaza
Concessional local pass, plaza inside town limits	₹3,000 a year	Residents inside a municipal area with a plaza in it
National annual pass	₹3,075 for 2026-27, up to 200 crossings or one year	Frequent long-distance drivers, not local commuters

The Fine Print Matters Here

This is not a national pass, and it does not work everywhere. It is tied to one specific plaza, cannot be transferred, and will not be issued at plazas on highways or expressways that use a closed user fee collection system. It also will not be issued where a service road or an alternative road is available to commuters, which rules out a large number of urban plazas where a free alternative already exists.

Eligibility rests on three things: a valid and functional FASTag registered for non-commercial use, a vehicle registered in the applicant's name, and a residential address within the 20 km radius. NHAI's digital verification already pulls address and vehicle data through DigiLocker and VAHAN and checks the distance using GIS, so the process is designed to be paperless once the online route opens.

Where to Buy It

The annual local pass will be sold at eligible toll plazas from 1 November. It will also be available through the Rajmargyatra app from 1 December 2026, which is when most commuters will actually want to use it.

The most useful thing a commuter can do this week is check whether their regular plaza qualifies before queuing up on 1 November, because the exclusions will cut the eligible list down sharply in practice.

What This Means for You

If you cross one plaza twice a day for work or school and you live within 20 km of it, this is a straight saving of roughly ₹2,800 a year, and you should buy the annual pass at the plaza rather than waiting for the app. If your route has a service road or your plaza sits on a closed-user-fee expressway, nothing changes for you. Check the fuel price page for your city to work out your full monthly running cost, and keep an eye on the news feed for the app rollout in December.

(Sources: PIB press release, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 27 October 2026; NHAI notification of 26 October 2026; NHAI release on digital local passes, August 2026; Livemint; Business Today. Images: Talegaon toll plaza, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Hilalpur Toll Plaza photographs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.)

::KEY_NUMBERS:: Pass cost | ₹1,500 a year Inside town limits | ₹3,000 a year Eligibility radius | 20 km FASTags issued in India | over 13 crore ::TLDR:: The pass is valid only at the one plaza it is bought for It is limited to non-commercial vehicles with an active FASTag Plazas with a usable service road are excluded Available at toll plazas from 1 November, and on the Rajmargyatra app from 1 December ::CHART:: type: bar title: Annual toll outgo for an eligible local commuter (₹) labels: Monthly pass x 12,Local pass outside town,Local pass inside town values: 4320,1500,3000 source: MoRTH notification, October 2026 ::TIMELINE:: Aug 2026 | NHAI extends online monthly local passes to 121 plazas on the Rajmargyatra app 26 Oct 2026 | MoRTH notifies the Fifth Amendment Rules 1 Nov 2026 | Annual local pass goes on sale at eligible plazas 1 Dec 2026 | Pass becomes available on the Rajmargyatra app ::GLOSSARY:: FASTag | the RFID sticker that pays tolls automatically at plazas Closed user fee system | a highway where you pay once for the whole stretch rather than per plaza Rajmargyatra | NHAI's official app for toll and highway services ::PULLQUOTE:: A commuter who crosses the same plaza twice a day for work has been paying a toll for the privilege of living near it. That is what the new pass corrects. ::PROS:: Annual outgo falls from ₹4,320 to ₹1,500 for most eligible commuters No paperwork at the plaza once digital verification is live Covers unlimited crossings at one plaza for a year Rates are capped and revised only on 1 April each year ::CONS:: Not valid at a second plaza even if it is nearby Closed-user-fee highways and expressways are excluded Plazas with a working service road are excluded The pass cannot be transferred to another vehicle ::POLL:: Is the ₹1,500 local toll pass fair to everyone? || Yes, it fixes an old unfairness || No, non-residents still pay full toll || It should be free for residents ::SOURCES:: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHAI, PIB