Exempted FASTag for eligible vehicles now lasts three years or five, not one
By Nikhil Yelligetti · Friday, 2 October 2026 at 3:00 pm · 4 min read · 0 views
From 2 October 2026, an exempted FASTag for an eligible Divyangjan vehicle is valid for three years or five, based on the disability recorded. This is not a free tag for every car.
From 2 October 2026, the Centre has changed how long an exempted FASTag lasts for eligible vehicles. A tag issued against 70% to 100% disability is valid for five years. A tag issued against 40% and up to, but not including, 70% is valid for three years. The old rule was renewal every year.
Nandgaon Peth toll plaza, Maharashtra. Photo: Ganesh Dhamodkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The longer FASTag validity below is only for eligible Divyangjan and disability-adapted vehicles.
The change covers two groups: vehicles specially designed for use by persons with physical disabilities, and vehicles whose registration ownership type is Divyangjan. The percentage has to be on a valid disability certificate, a UDID card, or another record the rules accept. After the three or five years, renewal still depends on the person remaining eligible under the National Highways Fee Rules, 2008.
Who does this not cover?
A private car with an ordinary FASTag is unchanged. The longer validity is not a discount on the Mumbai–Pune expressway for every driver. If you are eligible, the document that matters is the disability record tied to that vehicle, not a photocopy of someone else's certificate.
The revision is the Press Information Bureau note issued before 2 October. Related notes are on Automobile News.