Amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), 1988, proposed by the Union Roads Ministry, also seek to empower enforcement agencies to detain vehicles at toll plazas for evading user charges.
Officials believe that restricting access to India’s 45,428 kilometer network of toll roads will make motorists more compliant and improve safety on India’s roads, which have the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of accidents and deaths in the world. According to government data, about 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 objective of changing driving behaviour, ensuring the rule of law and making Indian roads safer for all. The changes are not coercive but only push road users to drive with discipline and encourage compliance with user charges,” said one of the government officials cited above on condition of anonymity.
The government is seeking these changes to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of halving global road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
Furthermore, e-challans have a low settlement rate, with only more than a third of the 400 million e-challans having value ₹61,000 crore issued between 2015 and 2025 will be collected, according to the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
Limitations on Vehicle-Related Services
On January 20, the government announced the Central Motor Vehicles (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026, which introduce amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, allowing authorities to withhold services — such as vehicle fitness certificates, renewal of insurance, change of vehicle ownership and issuance of national commercial vehicle permits — until outstanding toll charges are paid along with applicable fines.
Similarly, the proposed changes to the MVA also provide for the denial of some services, including vehicle servicing, stricter control when renewing a driver’s license for recidivists, and the linking of motor vehicle insurance premiums to the driver’s behavior. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) could propose higher basic premiums and liability insurance for vehicles related to traffic offences.
“The MoRTH is also studying whether traffic offenses can be linked to fuel dispensing, which will prevent people with unpaid tolls or e-challans from getting fuel. But this would require infrastructure upgrades at petrol stations to identify offenders and the process is still being studied and discussed in inter-departmental forums,” said the second official on condition of anonymity.
Queries emailed by the mint to the MoRTH spokesperson remained unanswered.
Long overdue
Experts say these measures are long overdue but will require effective implementation. “If implemented well, this move could also strengthen the credibility of digital traffic systems and improve overall road discipline,” said Vijaya Sunder M., Assistant Professor of Traffic Management (Practice) at the Indian School of Business (ISB).
But the success of the policy will depend on careful system design, especially accurate data integration across agencies, clear communication with vehicle owners and available grievance redressal mechanisms to resolve disputes or errors, he added.
“To maintain public confidence, it will be important to ensure proportionality in enforcement and avoid unintended hardship (especially for occasional violators). Overall, the proposal has the potential to meaningfully improve compliance, provided it is implemented in a transparent, phased and citizen-focused manner,” he said.
Srikumar Krishnamurthy, senior vice president and joint group head, corporate ratings, credit rating agency ICRA Ltd, said the proposed changes can improve accountability and strengthen discipline. “This means that the implementation of the same must be properly processed and must take into account factors such as incremental compliance costs, potential data errors and redressal measures for complaints,” he added.
While 80 million FASTag users pay tolls digitally with minimal disruption to road traffic, evasion by non-FASTag users continues, resulting in lost revenue for highway operators and unsafe traffic conditions at toll plazas.
“By making challan and toll payment a prerequisite for routine services, the government can create a strong incentive for compliance and move from voluntary payments to systemic accountability,” said Piyush Tewari, founder and executive director of the non-profit SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF).
“Deterrence works best when the consequences are certain, swift and proportionate. Linking services disrupts the cycle of ‘running away without paying’, which undermines enforcement. International examples – such as points systems in Europe or Australia’s demerit points linked to license suspension – show that behavioral sanctions improve compliance and contribute to reducing mortality,” added Tewari.
