The Expansion of QR Payments at Tolls and Transit in India
The year 2025 saw significant growth in QR-based payment acceptance at both highway toll plazas and urban transit networks across India. Mobile-based payments via QR codes — particularly under the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and merchant-presented QR models — surged as users looked for faster, contactless payment options. According to RBI data, UPI QR codes logged about 657.9 million active codes in FY 2024-25, marking a 91.5 % increase.
In the context of tolls and transit, this means more vehicles and commuters paying via scan-and-go rather than cash or card swipe. The payment ecosystem shift is driven by demand for speed, low friction and integration of QR infrastructure in non-retail settings such as highways, buses, metro stations and toll plazas.
Insight: As QR acceptance expands beyond retail, toll and transport payments become an important frontier for digital inclusion and infrastructure monetisation.Transport operators and highway concessionaires are now deploying merchant-presented QR codes, static or dynamic, enabling vehicles to pay directly or confirm payments via UPI apps. This opens the way for more streamlined toll flow, reduced congestion and lower cash-handling costs.
Major Infrastructure Changes in 2025
Several key infrastructure changes enabled the QR adoption surge in tolls and transit this year:
- QR + FASTag Integration: While the FASTag RFID tag remains the dominant medium for toll plazas, many lanes added QR codes parallelly for backup or micro-vehicle payments. This hybrid model allows smaller vehicles, bikes or transit users who may not have FASTag to pay via QR.
- Transit QR Deployment: Urban transit authorities began piloting QR-code payments at metro stations, bus terminals and parking kiosks — enabling rail/road transit users to pay via UPI-enabled apps rather than tokens or cards.
- Offline / Low-Connectivity QR Modes: To accommodate remote or less-connected toll plazas, some systems adopted QR codes that work with limited network connectivity, with settlement deferred to batch mode.
These infrastructure upgrades required payment service providers and acquirers to integrate with toll/transport lanes and update terminal hardware. Under the broader infrastructure push reflected in RBI’s Payment Systems Report (Dec 2024), the rails for toll payments (mentioned as “toll payments (NETC)”) have been explicitly recognised.
Tip: For fintechs, partnering early with highway concessionaires or transit agencies to deploy QR lanes yields first-mover advantage in low-competition payment segments.Broadly, payment providers and toll-transit operators are realising that QR acceptance can reduce the need for expensive card POS machines, simplify onboarding and lower maintenance costs — making QR a more scalable solution for high-volume low-ticket flows typical in transit and tolls.
Regulatory & Payment System Impacts (RBI, NPCI)
The RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have supported these shifts by emphasising safety, interoperability and inclusion under the “Payments Vision 2025” strategy.
Key regulatory points relevant to QR at tolls/transit:
- Standardised QR Acceptance: QR-code acceptance frameworks apply to non-merchant use-cases (like tolls/transit) under the broader P2M infrastructure — which means toll lanes can adopt merchant-presented QR models similar to retail.
- Settlement & Flow Assurance: Toll/revenue flows must be visible, auditable and aligned with settlement timelines. The RBI’s Payment Systems Report flagged toll payments as part of the retail payment ecosystem.
- Inclusion Mandate: The rapid growth of QR codes (over 650 million codes) shows the regulatory push for “payments for everyone, everywhere”. Toll/transport payments were explicitly kept in scope to reduce cash usage.
Among other issues, acquirers must ensure correct MDR (merchant discount rate) and avoid hidden charges for end-users at tolls. Fintechs and payment aggregators servicing transit/toll sectors need to embed settlement flows that align with government/concessionaire revenue models.
What This Means for Fintechs and Commuters Going Forward
For commuters and vehicle users, the increased QR availability means more payment flexibility: they can scan a code at toll booths or transit kiosks, use any UPI app, and skip cash or card lines. This promotes faster throughput and fewer delays.
For fintechs, the toll & transit segment represents high-volume, low-ticket flows — making it ideal for scaling payment volume, experimenting with loyalty or wallet incentives and embedding value-added services (e.g., toll rebates, transit passes). But the business model must account for settlement terms, MDR, and hardware cost.
Looking ahead, we expect:
- Greater bundling of payments with mobility services — e.g., QR + transit pass + parking payments in one flow.
- Linking QR lanes with telematics or IoT devices in vehicles so payments auto-trigger based on GPS or toll lane entry.
- Use of offline-capable QR modes in remote toll locations to ensure payment continuity even when connectivity is poor.
- Integration with subscription or pass models (monthly transit passes) using QR flows and auto-debit/future settlement.
In summary, 2025 marks a turning point: QR payment acceptance at tolls and transit is no longer “nice to have” — it’s becoming mainstream. For fintech leaders, the opportunity lies in building payments that are fast, frictionless and built into mobility infrastructure. For commuters, the benefit is seamless payment-enabled journeys. For regulators and operators, the win is lower cash handling, improved revenue visibility and higher user satisfaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why are QR payments growing at toll plazas and in transit?
Because QR codes provide a low-cost, interoperable payment method that works with any UPI-enabled app, enabling faster throughput and reducing cash handling at high-volume payment points.
2. What infrastructure changes were key in 2025?
Hybrid QR + FASTag lanes, dynamic QR deployment for buses/metros, and offline-capable QR modes in low-connectivity locations were major enablers.
3. How does RBI support QR payments in these segments?
The RBI includes toll and transit payment flows in its retail payments ecosystem, promotes large-scale QR acceptance, and emphasises audit and settlement transparency under Payments Vision 2025.
4. What should fintechs watch when entering toll/transit payment segments?
They should evaluate settlement terms, MDR structures, hardware and network readiness, partnership with concessionaires and compliance with payment-system norms.
5. What’s next for QR payments in mobility?
We expect integrated mobility payments (transit-+parking-+toll), IoT/vehicle-linked payment triggers, offline QR flows, and subscription-style pass models using QR codes.