The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued guidelines that standardise the design and infrastructure of toll plazas on four-lane and wider National Highways for barrier-less Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on 6 November 2026. The rules cover all upcoming and under-construction projects.
Under MLFF, FASTag-based user fees are deducted while vehicles keep moving under overhead gantries, with no boom barrier or booth stop. NHAI has already tested the model on the ground since the launch of India’s first barrier-less tolling system in Gujarat, and the new circular turns that pilot experience into a national design template.
What the NHAI MLFF guidelines standardise
The policy circular sets uniform requirements for each National Highway configuration. It fixes how a barrier-less plaza is laid out and how many tolling lanes it needs, instead of leaving these choices to individual project reports.
- Plaza layout and the number of tolling lanes for four-, six- and eight-lane highways
- Provision and placement of gantries carrying RFID readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras
- Road safety features, high-mast lighting, advance signage and Electronic Variable Message Signs (VMS)
- An administrative building-cum-operations and maintenance centre for each plaza
Because vehicles no longer queue at barriers, NHAI said the number of lanes at a toll plaza has been rationalised compared with conventional plazas. The guidelines put a four-lane highway at eight plaza lanes, a six-lane highway at 10 and an eight-lane highway at 12, including spare lanes for emergencies, which frees up land and simplifies traffic movement through the tolling zone.
How barrier-less tolling handles vehicles without FASTag
The system identifies vehicles in motion and debits the applicable fee through FASTag. For a vehicle without a valid, working FASTag, it generates an e-Notice under Rule 14 of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. A second MLFF gantry placed after the main pay-axis gantry acts as a backup read point.
The design leans on the FASTag ecosystem that NHAI has tightened in recent years, from the One Vehicle, One FASTag rule to the annual local toll pass introduced from 1 November. Lighting is treated as part of the tolling stack, since ANPR cameras need good illumination to read number plates.
Which National Highway projects must adopt the design
The guidelines apply to all future and under-construction projects. Projects at the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage will build the new design into their documents, while projects already awarded or under construction will adopt the changes through applicable contractual provisions. NHAI field offices have been told to include the requirements in upcoming projects and help ongoing ones switch over.
A related step on the digital side has been the IHMCL-NFSU partnership on cybersecurity for highway tolling systems, which becomes more important as toll collection runs entirely on gantry data. The full text is available in the official PIB release, and project updates are posted on the NHAI website.
Key takeaways
- NHAI has issued a single design standard for barrier-less MLFF toll plazas on four-lane and wider National Highways.
- Plaza lanes are fixed at eight, 10 and 12 for four-, six- and eight-lane highways, with RFID and ANPR gantries reading FASTag on the move.
- DPR-stage projects must adopt the design, and awarded or ongoing projects will switch through contract provisions.
FAQ
What is Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling?
MLFF is a barrier-less system in which gantry-mounted RFID readers and ANPR cameras identify vehicles and deduct the toll through FASTag without the vehicle stopping at a booth.
What happens if a vehicle has no valid FASTag?
The system generates an e-Notice for the user fee under Rule 14 of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.
Does the new design apply to existing toll plazas?
The guidelines cover future and under-construction National Highway projects; awarded and ongoing projects will adopt the changes through their contracts.
Also read: NHAI’s agreement for India’s first barrier-free MLFF tolling system
Featured image: FASTag lanes at the Nandgaon Peth toll plaza on a National Highway near Amravati, Maharashtra. Photo: Ganesh Dhamodkar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)