Government Refutes Fake Claims on Toll Fees for Two-Wheelers
The government has clarified that two-wheelers remain exempt from toll charges, dismissing viral social media claims as false. Officials emphasized that tolls apply only to four-wheelers and larger vehicles under existing rules.
The union government on Thursday issued a clarification regarding apocryphal claims that two-wheelers were being charged user fees at toll plazas on national highways and expressways.
The statement was promulgated after misleading reports began percolating across various social media platforms, where users alleged that motorcyclists were being compelled to pay at toll booths. To counter this, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways released an official note affirming, “About the fake news circulating on social media regarding toll collection from two-wheelers on toll plazas, NHAI would like to clarify that no user fee is levied from two-wheelers at the Toll plazas on National Highways and National Expressways across the country.”
The ministry underscored that the veracity of such claims was nugatory, stressing that the National Highway Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, govern toll collection. “User fee on National Highways is collected as per the National Highway Fee Rules, 2008, and there is no proposal to charge toll fee from the two-wheelers,” the note reiterated.
According to the government, toll fees apply solely to vehicles with four or more wheels. These include cars, jeeps, vans, or light motor vehicles, light commercial vehicles, light goods carriers, mini buses, buses, and trucks; heavy construction machinery (HCM); earth-moving equipment (EME); multi-axle vehicles (MAV) with three to six axles; and oversized carriers with seven or more axles.
The clarification emerged after fallacious claims resurfaced online, with videos gaining traction. One ostensible clip posted on Instagram by a user named ‘the dogra rider’ showed multiple motorcycles in a queue at a toll plaza, asserting that two-wheelers were being charged. Many number plates in the footage belonged to Uttar Pradesh. Another video purportedly displayed a biker being asked to pay Rs 70 by a booth worker.
This is not the first time such rumors have circulated. In July, the ministry had already moved to corroborate that two-wheelers remain exempt from toll obligations, after speculative reports hinted otherwise. The repetition of such narratives underscores the challenges faced in curbing misinformation, especially when it rapidly spreads among digital peregrination communities and road itinerants alike.
