NHA Hikes Toll Tax on Highways and Motorways
The National Highway Authority (NHA) has increased that the toll rate on national highways and motorways, i.e., M1, M4, and M5 has been revised with up to a 30% increase, effective tomorrow, October 1st, 2024.
Read the official notice from NHA.
According to the notice, the national highway toll rates have been revised as follows:
That was for the GT roads. Here are the new toll rates for Motorways:
These are all the recent toll rate changes as per the latest notice from the NHA. Prior to this announcement, in May 2024, the NHA also increased toll taxes on the M1 – M4 motorways, signaling a broader trend of rising toll rates across Pakistan’s highway network. Then, again, they increased the toll tax for 2nd time in August 2024 for the M2 Lahore-Islamabad motorway. And now, this is the 3rd time in a year that NHA is revising and increasing the toll taxes for motorways, and this time, they didn’t forgive the GT roads as well.
The frequent adjustments are reportedly due to the government’s concern over low tax collection from highways and motorways. With increasing operational costs and infrastructure maintenance, the NHA appears to be taking steps to boost revenue, which might also be linked to the country’s overall fiscal challenges. Travelers should prepare for higher commuting expenses on key routes.
In August 2024, NHA officials said that they’ve only managed to collect 13% of the toll tax from highways, which is way lower than expected. Highway tolls are a major source of income for the government and for NHA to operate. To cover this shortfall, it seems that they are continuously increasing the toll taxes multiple times a year.
Furthermore, NHA has decided to realign the M2 motorway’s salat range patch, which has been notorious for its fatal accidents due to steep 7-degree angles. Of course, to rebuild, they need money and tax collection, which is another reason why NHA constantly increases the toll tax charges multiple times a year.