E-challan, toll dues could bar access to national highways

Changes being made to meet UN goal of halving global road deaths, injuries by 2030

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Officials believe restricting access to India's 45,428-km toll road network will nudge motorists towards greater compliance and improve safety on roads.

(MINT)

Motorists with pending e-challans or unpaid toll dues may lose access to highways under proposed changes to motor vehicle legislation that the Centre is likely to announce during the budget session of Parliament, according to two government officials close to the discussions.

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-km 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.