Overloading penalty new rule: According to the new rule, penalties can be as high as four times than the previous ones. Scroll down to read details.
Published: April 14, 2026 11:02 PM IST
Overloading penalty new rule: The government has launched stricter rules and several new ones for curbing the overloading of vehicles on the national highways. This began on April 15, and the vehicles carrying the excessive load will face heavy penalties. The charges may range from two to four times the standard charges for the same. This action is aimed at improving road safety and reducing the damage caused by overloaded vehicles.
What’s the new rule?
The new rule suggests that any truck, bus, or commercial vehicles which are found carrying a load exceeding the allowed limits will be getting penalised. The penalty will be calculated on the basis of how much weight the vehicle carries.
Relief from the imposition of a penalty
There’s a small relief for the transporters as per the new rules. It’s because no penalty will be imposed on the vehicles if they exceed the weight limit by up to 10 per cent. The margin has been permitted with the consideration of minor variations in the load.
When will the penalty become double or more?
If the load becomes more than the limit of 10 per cent to 40 per cent, the vehicle will be penalised double the standard fee. On the other hand, if the load on the vehicle becomes more than 40 per cent, the penalty will be increased by up to four times the standard amount. This makes the process of overloading quite costly for the transport operators.
The concerned authorities have also clarified that the penalties will be imposed after proper weighing. The vehicles will be checked at the toll plazas, which are equipped with the weighing systems. The penalties will not be imposed on the vehicles without confirming the excessive loads.
FASTag mandatory for payment
All the penalties will be collected on a digital basis through FASTag. Alongside this, the cash payments will not be accepted at all. All the vehicles that do not have FASTag may suffer additional charges, as per the ongoing toll rules.
The details of the vehicles (overloaded ones) will be uploaded to the government’s ‘Vahan’ portal, which will help the authorities to track all the violations and improve proper enforcement.
