TL;DR
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker has ordered an immediate halt to illegal toll collection from EVs and mandated refunds, addressing the delayed implementation of the state's EV toll-free policy.
The Maharashtra government's electric vehicle (EV) toll-free policy has come under severe scrutiny after it was revealed that EVs were still being charged toll on key highways despite an official exemption. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has intervened, directing the Transport Department to immediately cease toll collection from EVs within eight days and to refund any unlawfully collected amounts to vehicle owners.
The Speaker termed the continued collection a serious matter, emphasizing that it contradicted the government's own policy, which was announced on May 23, 2025, to promote environmentally friendly transportation. While the official implementation of the toll exemption began in August 2025 for routes like the Samruddhi Mahamarg and Mumbai-Pune Expressway, delays in updating toll plaza systems, particularly with FastTag agencies and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), led to the ongoing discrepancies. Narwekar also called for an expansion of high-powered EV charging stations, noting the current shortage of 120-kW fast chargers crucial for rapid EV charging.
