Highway overload fee: check it on your weighbridge.

Short answer: from 15 April 2026, a truck that crosses a national highway fee plaza with weighing equipment and is more than 10% over its permissible gross vehicle weight pays twice the normal toll; more than 40% over, it pays four times. The excess load is also reported to VAHAN. The simplest protection for a plant or transporter is to weigh every loaded truck on a stamped weighbridge before it leaves the gate and load to the permitted weight on the vehicle’s papers.

The rule is the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2026, published in the Gazette of India as G.S.R. 279(E) dated 13 April 2026. It replaces rule 10 of the 2008 fee rules. This guide explains what changed, who pays, and what a plant, a quarry or a transporter can do at its own weighbridge. It is a plain-language summary, not legal advice: read the official notification on morth.gov.in for the exact text.

What the 2026 rule says

• It applies at national highway fee plazasThe fee is charged at the fee (toll) plaza of a National Highway: for an overloaded vehicle, the normal toll for that crossing is multiplied.
• Weight is measured at the plazaThe gross weight of the truck and its load is measured by a weight measurement device notified by the Central Government and installed at the fee plaza.
• No device, no overload feeWhere no such device is installed at the plaza, no overload fee is charged and the vehicle pays only its normal toll.
• Paid digitallyThe fee is collected through FASTag, UPI or other electronic means notified by the Government. A vehicle without a valid FASTag also falls under the existing rule for that case.
• Reported to VAHANDetails of the vehicle and its excess load are reported to VAHAN.

The fee slabs at a glance

Check the permissible gross vehicle weight for each vehicle on its registration papers; this guide does not quote limits for any truck type. The rule does not apply to private investment (concession) projects started before it came into force, unless the concessionaire agrees to it without compensation. MoRTH’s office memorandum of 14 April 2026 also held the rule back in the five States/UTs then under the election model code of conduct (West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam) until the code was withdrawn.

“No fee up to 10%” is not a loading allowance

The rule itself says it applies without prejudice to any liability under other laws, and the excess load is reported to VAHAN. In other words, the plaza fee is not the only possible consequence. Plan your loading to the permitted weight on the papers, not to the 10% band.

Who feels it first

How a plant weighbridge helps avoid the fee

The plaza measures gross weight. Your own weighbridge can measure the same thing before the truck leaves, when correcting it costs only a few minutes of unloading.

• Weigh every loaded truck at the exitMake the outgoing gross weighment a gate rule, not an occasional check. The slip records vehicle number, gross, tare, net, date and time.
• Check gross against the papersCompare the gross weight on the slip with the permitted weight on the vehicle’s registration papers before you release it. If it is over, unload at the bay, not at the plaza.
• Record a fresh tareTare changes with fuel, tarpaulins, spare wheels and body repairs. A fresh tare on each visit keeps net and gross honest.
• Keep the weighbridge stamped and accurateA plant reading that has drifted gives false comfort. Every weighbridge used for trade is verified by Legal Metrology before use and re-verified every 12 months. See stamping and annual verification and the stamping due-date tool.
• Weigh with every axle on the weighbridgeThe longest loaded vehicle must fit with all axles on the weighbridge at once. See 60, 80 or 100 ton weighbridge for length and capacity.

Your weighbridge and the plaza may not read the same

Two different instruments, weighing at different moments, rarely agree to the last kilogram. Rain on a tarpaulin, fuel added on the way and how the truck stands on the device all change the reading. Load to the permitted weight with a sensible margin rather than to the last kilogram. A Symphony weighbridge is built to OIML R76 Class III, and its verified display step is on the stamping certificate. To see what a small error costs over a year of dispatches, use the error-cost calculator.

Which weighbridge suits a dispatch gate

• Capacity and length for your heaviest truckWe size capacity at about 1.2 × the heaviest real gross weight. Symphony builds 10–100 MT weighbridges from 7 to 18 m; see choosing capacity and size.
• Pit-less for a busy gateA pit-less weighbridge stands on the surface with ramps, so there is no pit to flood or clean.
• RCC for dust and corrosionQuarries, salt works and chemical plants often choose a concrete (RCC) weighbridge, with a 25-year structural warranty on the RCC concrete (T&C apply).
• Modular for a temporary siteA modular weighbridge needs no foundation and installs within hours on a hard, level surface, so it can move with a project.
• Unmanned for 24-hour dispatchAn unmanned weighbridge with RFID, cameras and barriers weighs every truck the same way, day and night.

Symphony weighbridges use IP67/IP68 load cells and SMFW weighing software, with free civil consultation and installation. Dispatch is about 2 weeks from a commercially cleared order with PO, with a 1-year warranty. We serve plants in Ahmedabad, across Gujarat and all over India.

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