Court suspends additional toll until August 3, seeks responses from NHA and Ministry of Communications
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday restrained the National Highways Authority (NHA) from charging an additional 50% to motorists traveling without an M-Tag or with insufficient M-Tag balance, suspending the authority’s notification until the next hearing on August 3.
The court also sent notices to the NHA, the Ministry of Communications and other respondents, seeking their responses.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir passed the interim order after holding a preliminary hearing on a petition filed by lawyer Muhammad Jalal Haider.
Read: SCBAP to challenge NHA ‘extortion’ through tax hikes
The NHA had announced a 50% increase in tolls for vehicles without M-Tag or with insufficient M-Tag balance, effective June 15, 2025, as part of its plan to implement a 100pc M-Tag system on all highways in the country.
The petition named the NHA, the Ministry of Communications and other parties as respondents, asking the court to declare the additional charge illegal and order the authorities to refund the amount collected from the public under the penalty.
According to the petition, the NHA issued a notification on May 30, 2025, imposing an additional 50% toll, described as a fine, on vehicles traveling without an M-Tag or with insufficient M-Tag balance.
The petitioner argued that Section 10 of the NHA Act authorized the authority only to collect toll tax and did not contain any provision enabling it to impose penalty on vehicles not carrying MTag or those with low MTag balances.
The petition contended that the NHA was recovering the additional amount without any legal authority.
It asked the court to declare the May 30 notification unconstitutional and void, order the NHA to refund all additional amounts collected under the notification and seek details on the mechanism governing M-Tag balances and its implementation.
