NHAI Advances Free-Flow Tolling Initiative to Reduce Land Acquisition Requirements and Limit Toll Plaza Lanes to Eight
New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced that all future national highway projects will feature toll plazas limited to a maximum of eight lanes. This decision integrates Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling into highway development, aiming to minimize land acquisition and reduce public expenditure. The new system will utilize electronic toll collection equipment mounted on overhead gantries, eliminating the need for multiple tolling lanes and booths.
Currently, many toll plazas on six- and eight-lane highways, especially near major cities, have over 20 lanes, with some reaching up to 32 lanes. Traditional tolling systems require more lanes to manage vehicle queues at toll gates. An NHAI official stated, “For all practical reasons, there will be no need to acquire any extra land for toll plazas.” The new tolling system will employ gantry-mounted high-performance RFID readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to identify vehicles in motion and deduct tolls via FASTag.
The revised design aims to optimize the number of tolling lanes by enhancing the vehicle-handling capacity of each lane. NHAI estimates that each lane will handle up to 600 vehicles per hour, with an additional spare lane provided for emergencies. The circular also specifies safety and infrastructure requirements, including a minimum six-meter clearance for gantry-mounted equipment, advance signage, variable message signs located one kilometer before the plaza, and sufficient high-mast lighting. Toll plazas will be ideally situated on straight stretches of highways.
This policy will apply to highway projects at various stages of construction. Projects still in the detailed project report (DPR) phase will incorporate the new layout in their bidding documents. For projects already awarded or under construction where toll plaza construction has not yet commenced, the revised design will be adopted through changes in the scope of work. NHAI has instructed all regional officers, project implementation units, and DPR consultants to implement these new provisions in upcoming and ongoing projects as applicable. The updated policy replaces previous toll plaza design guidelines for four-lane and wider highways, while two-lane highways with paved shoulders will continue under the existing tolling system.
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