Patna, The Bihar government has moved to exempt a wide range of official vehicles used by serving and former political leaders and senior officials from toll charges on national highways, in a bid to minimise delays at toll plazas and “save valuable time” of dignitaries.
State Transport Minister Shravan Kumar has written to all eligible VVIPs requesting them to install exempted FASTags on their official vehicles and complete mandatory registration on the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) dedicated exemption portal within three months, in line with central government standard operating procedures.
Vehicles qualifying for the waiver include those allocated to:
– The Chief Minister and former chief ministers
– Ministers and ministers of state
– The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
– Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
– Members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly (current and former) and Legislative Council
– The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
– The Chief Justice and judges of the Patna High Court
– The Chief Secretary and certain other designated senior officers
Officials said the exemption, already available under NHAI rules for specified constitutional and statutory dignitaries, was being actively enforced in Bihar to prevent vehicles carrying VVIPs from being halted at toll plazas, which has in the past caused delays to important meetings and official programmes.
“Stopping VVIP convoys at toll plazas leads to unnecessary loss of time,” Mr Kumar told reporters. “This streamlined process will ensure smooth passage while remaining fully compliant with central guidelines.”
Currently, several official vehicles of MPs, MLAs, ministers and the Chief Secretary already enjoy uninterrupted passage after registration on the NHAI portal. The department has sent individual letters to all concerned dignitaries urging swift compliance before the three-month deadline expires.
The initiative comes amid continuing infrastructure expansion across Bihar, with the state heavily reliant on national highway projects financed through toll revenue. The exemptions, though limited to official vehicles of designated office-holders, are expected to have a marginal financial impact on overall collections, officials said.
The Bihar Transport Department emphasised that private vehicles of the listed dignitaries will continue to pay tolls as usual. Only government-allotted vehicles bearing official insignia and registered on the NHAI exemption portal will qualify for waiver.
