A video of Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, is being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that no toll fee is payable at any toll booth located within a radius of 60 km from home, and one can cross such toll booths without paying the toll fee by showing an Aadhaar card (here, here, here, & here). In the video, we see Nitin Gadkari talking about issuing toll passes to locals residing near toll plazas based on their Aadhaar. He also mentions that, according to the rules, there should not be more than one toll plaza within 60km of another in the same direction and that any toll plaza violating this rule will be closed within three months. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: One can cross toll plazas within a 60 km radius from home without paying the toll fee by showing an Aadhaar card.
Fact: According to the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, people residing within a radius of 20 km of toll plazas on national highways can obtain an exemption or concession from paying toll fee. This is to be done by submitting an application to the relevant toll plaza authorities, along with the necessary documents, including proof of address. However, this exemption or concession does not apply if there is a service road or other alternative routes within the area of the toll plaza. Additionally, this exemption or concession is applicable only to non-commercial vehicles. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To learn more about this viral video of Nitin Gadkari, we conducted a relevant keyword search on the internet that led us to several reports published in March 2022 (here, here, here, & here). According to these reports, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, speaking in the Lok Sabha, said there should not be another toll plaza within 60 km of an existing toll plaza on national highways. If there is a second toll plaza, it will be shut down within the next three months. He also mentioned that people residing near toll plazas will be able to get toll passes using their Aadhaar.
We then found the extended version of the viral video of Nitin Gadkari talking about toll plazas. Responding to questions on the allocation of funds to the Ministry of Road Transport in the Union Budget 2022-23, Nitin Gadkari said that toll passes will be issued to people residing near toll plazas using their Aadhaar. He further mentioned, “there should not be two toll plazas within a distance of 60km on national highways. However, in some areas, there are two toll plazas within this distance which is wrong and even illegal. If there is a second toll plaza within 60 km of an existing one, it will be closed. We will complete this process within three months”. From the video, it is clear that Gadkari was discussing issuing toll passes to local people who reside near toll plazas based on their Aadhaar.
The viral post incorrectly claims that individuals do not need to pay toll fees at any toll plaza within 60 km of their home and that they can cross toll plazas without paying by showing their Aadhaar card.
According to the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, there are guidelines for the collection of toll fees on national highways. These rules specify that the distance between two adjacent toll plazas should be 60 km on national highways. They also contain provisions on how much to charge per kilometre and where toll plazas should be set up. According to the official website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in some cases, the spacing between two adjacent toll plazas is less than 60 km, and they have listed the reasons for establishing fee plazas within this distance.
According to these rules, people residing within a radius of 20 km of toll plazas on national highways can avail themselves of an exemption or concession from paying toll fees if they submit an application to the concerned toll plaza authorities along with the necessary documents, including proof of address. However, this exemption or concession does not apply if there is a service road or other alternative roads within the area of that toll plaza. Additionally, this exemption or concession is applicable only to non-commercial vehicles.
Individuals should submit documents proving their residence within a radius of 20 km of the toll plaza to the concerned authorities. After verifying the documents, the toll plaza authorities will issue a pass. For example, the toll plaza situated at Guduru in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana on National Highway NH-163 from Hyderabad to Yadagiri Gutta charges Rs. 330 for issuing a monthly pass to people residing within a 20 km radius of the toll plaza.
According to a news report published by ‘The Hindu’ on 10 July 2024, the toll plaza at Kappalur, Tamil Nadu, on the Kanyakumari to Bangalore National Highway (NH-7) has recently decided to charge local vehicles a 50% toll fee. Following this decision, local residents near the toll plaza protested, demanding that the authorities immediately withdraw the order to collect the 50% toll fee from local vehicles.
To sum up, the claim that one can cross toll plazas within a 60 km radius from home without paying the toll fee by showing an Aadhaar is incorrect.
