Haven't paid e-challans or toll dues? You could lose highway access

The Union road ministry's proposed tweaks to the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), 1988, also seek to empower enforcement agencies to detain vehicles at toll plazas for evading user charges.

Officials believe restricting access to India’s 45,428-kilometre toll road network will nudge motorists towards greater compliance and improve safety on Indian roads, which has the dubious distinction of recording the world’s highest number of accidents and fatalities. According to government data, around 500,000 road accidents occurred in 2024-25, resulting in about 180,000 deaths.

“We have proposed several changes in the MVA with the sole aim of changing driving behaviour, ensuring the rule of law, and making Indian roads safer for everyone. The amendments are not coercive but only push road users towards disciplined driving and encourage compliance towards user fees," said one of the government officials cited above, on the condition of anonymity.

The government is pursuing these changes to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.

Besides, e-challans have a poor settlement rate, with only over a third of the 400 million e-challans worth ₹61,000 crore issued between 2015 and 2025 being collected, according to the ministry of road, transport, and highways (MoRTH).

Restrictions on vehicle-related services

On 20 January, the government notified the Central Motor Vehicles (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026, introducing changes to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, that allow authorities to deny services—such as vehicle fitness certificates, insurance renewals, change of vehicle ownership, and issuance of national permits for commercial vehicles—until pending toll dues are cleared along with applicable penalties.

Similarly, the proposed amendments to the MVA also provide for the denial of certain services, including vehicle servicing, stricter scrutiny during driving licence renewals for repeat offenders, and the linking of motor insurance premiums to driver behaviour. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) could propose higher base premiums and third-party insurance liabilities for vehicles linked to traffic violations.

“The MoRTH is also studying if traffic violations can be linked to fuel dispensation, preventing people with unpaid tolls or e-challans from getting fuel. However, this would require infrastructure upgrade at fuel stations to identify violators, and this process is still being studied and discussed at inter-ministerial forums," said the second official, on the condition of anonymity.

Mint's emailed queries to the MoRTH spokesperson remained unanswered.

Long overdue

Experts say these measures were long overdue, but will require effective implementation. “If implemented well, the move could also strengthen the credibility of digital traffic enforcement systems and improve overall road discipline," said Vijaya Sunder M., assistant professor of operations management (practice) at Indian School of Business (ISB).

However, the policy's success will depend on careful system design, particularly accurate data integration across agencies, clear communication to vehicle owners, and accessible grievance-redressal mechanisms to address disputes or errors, he added.

"Ensuring proportionality in enforcement and avoiding unintended hardship (especially for occasional violators) will be important to sustain public trust. Overall, the proposal has the potential to improve compliance meaningfully, provided it is rolled out in a transparent, phased, and citizen-centric manner," he said.

Srikumar Krishnamurthy, senior vice-president and co-group head, corporate ratings, ratings agency ICRA Ltd, said the proposed changes can improve accountability and enhance discipline. "That said, execution of the same needs to be handled properly and must consider the factors like incremental costs of compliance, potential data errors, and grievance-redressal measures," he added.

While 80 million FASTag users pay toll charges digitally with minimal disruption to highway traffic, evasion by non-FASTag users continues, leading to revenue losses for highway operators and unsafe traffic conditions at toll plazas.

“By making challan and toll payment a prerequisite for routine services, the government may create a strong incentive for compliance, shifting from voluntary payment to systemic accountability," said Piyush Tewari, founder and chief executive at non-profit SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF).

“Deterrence works the best when consequences are certain, swift, and proportionate. Linking services disrupts the ‘get away without paying’ cycle, which undermines enforcement. International examples—e.g., point-based systems in Europe or Australia’s demerit points linked to licence suspension—show that behaviour-linked penalties improve compliance and contribute to fatality reductions," Tewari added.