In a step to decongest highways, especially near toll plazas, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched its ambitious Multi-lane Free Flow (MLFF) or barrier-less tolling system in May. Choryasi in Gujarat’s Surat became the first toll plaza to have this facility implemented. This put India in the league of select nations like the United States, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and several European countries to have this advanced tolling system.Since the system has very little human intervention, vehicles may be able to pass through without paying the toll.An analysis by The Indian Express of monthly reports from five MLFF toll plazas shows that nearly one in every 10 vehicles crosses a barrier-less toll plaza with a faulty or invalid FASTag, thereby not paying the user fee.According to data from the Mudaka toll plaza in Delhi, Choryasi in Gujarat, Gharaunda in Haryana, Daulatpura and Manoharpura in Rajasthan, a total of 10.52 lakh e-notices were issued between May and July to vehicles that crossed the toll plaza without paying the user fee. During the period, a total of 1.10 crore vehicle crossings were recorded across these plazas since MLFF went live at the respective toll plazas, meaning nearly 10% of vehicles were issued e-notices for non-payment of the toll.The MLFF is currently operational at six toll plazas, with the system going live at Choryasi on May 1, Mundaka on May 11, Daulatpura on June 19, Gharaunda on June 25, Manoharpur on July 1, and Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan on August 1.How does it work?In MLFF, vehicles do not need to stop at the toll gate to pay the user fee. The high-performance Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed at the toll gate gantry read the FASTag and Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) to deduct the toll amount even at speeds of up to 100 kmph.However, if the FASTAG account has insufficient balance or is invalid, faulty or non-functional, highway users are issued an e-notice for non-payment of the user fee immediately after crossing the toll gate. The toll amount must be paid within 72 hours, failing which defaulters have to pay double the toll amount.Story continues below this adA senior highway official said that the total recovery against e-notices is around 40%. “The highest recovery has been recorded at Choryasi with over 60% share and lowest at Mundaka, where around 20% of the amount is being recovered,” said the official.Also in Explained | Toll collections hit a record: Which states are driving the growth?The official also said that since the system is linked with the National Vehicle Registry (VAHAN) and the banks have validated the VRNs or license plate numbers linked to the FASTags, repeated violations and non-payment of user fees may result in the blacklisting of FASTag and cancellation of other vehicle-related services like PUC (pollution under control certificate) etc.Where are the most violations?Data analysis of five toll plazas shows that the violation rate (total e-notices issued out of total vehicles crossing) is highest at Choryasi at 11.97%, followed by almost 11% at Mundaka, 8.17% at Manoharpura, 5.54% at Gharaunda and 5.07% at Daulatpura.However, in absolute numbers, the Mundaka toll plaza in Delhi recorded the highest number of e-notices at 4.54 lakh, despite the MLFF system going live there after Choryasi, which issued 3.70 lakh e-notices over the last three months.Story continues below this adThere has been some reduction in violations as well. The violation rate of non-payment of toll at Choryasi has dropped from 15.33% in May to 9.73% in July.The data shows that 11.04 lakh vehicles passed the plaza in May, of which 1.69 lakh e-notices were issued. Similarly, 1.09 lakh e-notices were issued against 10.49 lakh vehicles in June, and 91,240 e-notices against 9.38 lakh vehicles in July.The violation rate at Mundaka plaza has also reduced marginally, dropping from 11.41% in May to 10.59% in July.Which vehicles are the biggest defaulters?The vehicle-category-wise analysis shows that cars and jeeps account for the highest number of e-notices, at over 91% of the total. Out of 10.52 lakh e-notices issued between May and July, 9.62 lakh were issued against cars only. This is also because cars and jeeps also account for the highest number of vehicle crossings. Their violation rate fell from 15% in May to 9.9% in July, but cars remain the single biggest compliance problem.Story continues below this adAlso Read | The bouncers on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway are telling us somethingThis is followed by heavy vehicles like buses and trucks, which account for 3.5% of the total e-notices. Light commercial vehicles (LCV) accounted for 2.5% of e-notices, followed by 4-6 Axle (2%), 3-axle vehicles (0.5%) and 7+OSV, which recorded only 74 e-notices in three months.The government is pushing for more MLFF toll plazas to reduce travel time, ease congestion near toll plazas, improve fuel efficiency and lower vehicular emissions. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, the MLFF is projected to be implemented across all four-lane and wider national highways and expressways by March 2029.Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL) – NHAI’s tolling implementation agency – has awarded the MLFF contract for 12 more fee plazas. These are Boraich on NH-48 in Gujarat; Nemili/Sri Perumbadur and Chenasamudram on NH-48 and Paranur on NH-45 in Tamil Nadu; Kasepalli, Amakathadu and Marur on NH-44 in Andhra Pradesh; Chalakwadi and Hiwargaon Pavsa on NH-50 in Maharashtra; Madanpur on NH-31 in Assam; and Badarpur-Faridabad on NH-19 in Haryana.Apart from this, bids have been invited for an additional 104 fee plazas. Currently, there are around 1,200 user fee plazas or toll plazas across the country, of which around 800 are publicly funded. The government’s priority is to first implement the system at these plazas.