State-owned NHAI on Monday announced the launch of a digital local pass feature that enables residents living within a 20 km radius of eligible toll plazas to purchase toll passes digitally through the Rajmargyatra Mobile App. According to NHAI's statement, this new facility allows eligible commuters to purchase a toll pass digitally without visiting the toll plaza, significantly reducing the time and effort required for toll pass acquisition. The first facility of this digital local toll pass has been introduced at the Mundka Bakkarwala Toll Plaza on Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) in Delhi and will be rolled out at other toll plazas across the country in the coming months. Under this new framework, eligible commuters can now purchase a local pass that enables unlimited travel through the respective toll plaza during the month, replacing the previous requirement for commuters to visit the toll plaza physically and submit supporting documents to establish their eligibility.
The new digital framework leverages consent-based integration with government digital platforms, including DigiLocker and VAHAN, to automatically retrieve verified details relating to the commuter's address, vehicle number and linked FASTag. As reported by NHAI, eligibility for a local pass is further established through GIS-based verification, eliminating manual documentation and significantly improving user convenience while ensuring transparency and accuracy. The entire process can now be digitally completed within a few minutes, with the initiative designed to make National Highway travel safer, smarter and more convenient for commuters. This digital transformation represents a significant improvement over the previous physical verification process that required commuters to visit toll plazas with supporting documents.
The digital local pass launch comes as part of NHAI's broader push for a barrier-less tolling system following the implementation of Multi-lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling at various toll plazas. According to NHAI, the MLFF system at the Mundka-Bakkarwala toll plaza was made operational on May 11, with the barrier-less tolling system currently operational at Choryasi in Gujarat, Manoharpura and Daulatpura toll plaza in Rajasthan, and Gharaunda toll plaza on the Panipat-Jalandhar section of NH-44 in Haryana. The MLFF system uses high-performance Radio Frequency Identification readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to read FASTag and vehicle registration numbers for toll deduction. Indian Highways Management Company Ltd has awarded MLFF contracts for other toll plazas including Boariach on NH-48 in Gujarat, Shahjahanpur on NH-48 in Rajasthan, and various locations in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana.
NHAI has also introduced 'MargMitra' Help Centre, an intelligent digital assistance platform integrated within the Rajmargyatra Mobile App. According to the statement, designed as a single-window interface for National Highway users, 'MargMitra' enables commuters to access information, seek assistance and register grievances through an intuitive conversational interface. Users can type or speak their queries, feedback or grievances in any of the 22 Indian languages, with the platform providing appropriate information or guiding them to relevant services. The Help Centre provides instant assistance on a wide range of services including FASTag recharge, KYC requirements, refund status, annual and local pass services and other frequently asked queries. For issues requiring intervention, National highway users can directly lodge complaints through the help centre, which is automatically routed to the concerned department for timely grievance resolution. The platform also allows users to monitor the progress of their complaints in real time and provides an option to file an appeal if they are not satisfied with the resolution. The Rajmargyatra app has already issued more than 80 lakh Annual Passes with real-time activation, demonstrating the platform's growing adoption among highway users.
