Summary
The move could eventually allow motorists to drive without stopping at toll plazas and pay only for the distance they travel.
New Delhi: India is looking to make toll plazas a thing of the past, as the government aims to introduce satellite-based toll collection on select national highways by 2028–29. The move could eventually allow motorists to drive without stopping at toll plazas and pay only for the distance they travel, rather than at fixed toll points, two officials aware of the development said.
The proposed global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based or GPS-based tolling will complement FASTag and multi-lane free flow (MLFF) systems, which allow vehicles to pass through toll points without stopping but still require roadside gantries and cameras to identify vehicles and collect tolls, said an official, who did not wish to be identified.
The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has commissioned a fully funded centre of excellence at
to undertake research on the subject and prepare a foolproof system for introducing satellite-based tolling in the country. The ministry is targeting its deployment on select stretches by 2028, subject to technical readiness and expansion of India’s satellite navigation capabilities with a 24x7 tracking system that covers the entire country, one of the officials said.
A MoRTH official said the toll plaza architecture is constantly evolving and the new system would continue to improve the road travel experience.
Unlike existing systems that collect tolls at fixed locations, GNSS-based tolling uses satellite positioning and compatible in-vehicle devices to track travel on designated highways and calculate charges according to the distance covered. This could allow motorists exiting a highway before a designated toll point to pay only for the tolled stretch they have actually used.
Existing toll plazas can slow down traffic, while the flat charge may not actually reflect the distance travelled by motorists, and even the barrier-free systems currently need roadside infrastructure.
The government's move follows efforts to expand barrierless MLFF tolling that removes the need for vehicles to queue at conventional booths but retains physical infrastructure to identify vehicles. GNSS could eventually remove the need for toll plazas and their infrastructure altogether, although cameras and other enforcement mechanisms may remain necessary.
Expert eye
“India can certainly adopt GNSS tolling from a technology standpoint, but only in phases perhaps,” said Devayan Dey, partner, capital projects and infrastructure at PwC India.
While the technology is mature, he said, enforcement, interoperability, cybersecurity, data privacy and grievance redressal would need to be addressed before wider deployment. Instances of deliberate and inadvertent violations under FASTag and MLFF could also pose revenue risks for highway asset owners, Dey added.
Bhavik Vora, partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, said India’s existing electronic tolling ecosystem, vehicle-registration databases and NavIC satellite-navigation capability provided a foundation for the transition.
He, however, said the 2028 timeline should be seen as the start of a phased transition rather than an automatic nationwide rollout. Accurate positioning, compatible onboard devices, digital road maps, payment integration and safeguards against fraud would be essential, Vora said.
Sanjay Kumar Sinha, founder and managing director of Chaitanya Projects Consultancy, said the proposed IIT Kanpur roadmap should assess corridor suitability, technology costs, positioning accuracy and regulatory requirements before implementation. Pilots on selected stretches would help establish operational reliability and cost-effectiveness, he added.
There was actually a pilot run on the technology. Kushal Kumar Singh, partner at Deloitte India, said a pilot had been conducted in 2024 on a section of the Golden Quadrilateral, with encouraging results. However, challenges involving highway geofencing, onboard device availability and pricing, distance-based charging policies and the impact on existing concession agreements needed to be addressed.
Singh said the system could improve journey quality by eliminating the need to stop or slow down at toll plazas. It could also bring into the toll-paying network the motorists who use tolled highways without crossing existing toll plazas.
Global practice
Satellite-based tolling is in practice globally. Germany uses satellite positioning and onboard units to levy distance-based tolls on heavy goods vehicles, with charges calculated according to the tolled route and vehicle characteristics. Slovakia and Hungary also use electronic distance-based tolling for heavy vehicles.
Singapore is transitioning to a GNSS-based electronic road pricing 2.0 system, which is scheduled to replace its existing gantry-based charging from 1 January 2027. Its system will use onboard units to identify charging locations and calculate applicable fees, although distance-based road pricing is not part of the immediate transition.
However, for India, the transition could be more complex, given the scale of its highway network and diversity of vehicles. Satellite signals can be less reliable in tunnels, mountainous terrain and dense urban areas, while continuous location tracking raises questions about privacy and data governance.
A phased rollout alongside FASTag and MLFF would allow the government to test billing accuracy, enforcement and dispute resolution before expanding the system, said experts.
A query emailed to MoRTH seeking details of the plan remained unanswered until press time.
About the Author
Subhash Narayan
Subhash is the infrastructure editor at Mint and tracks the momentous developments taking place in the space that is fast changing the Indian landscape. He finds reporting to be a passion that provides the necessary adrenaline rush and keeps you going.