All vehicle users will now be able to pay tolls on road bridges electronically as the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has opened its e-payment system to all banks and mobile banking platforms, aiming for a more efficient, transparent, and faster toll collection process.
Officials said that after extending the electronic toll collection (ETC) system from the current two banks to all banks and mobile financial services (MFS), tolls can now be paid either electronically or using debit and credit cards at the booths of 22 toll bridges.
So far, 11 banks and all MFS have joined RHD's service, the toll collection management system (TCMS), enabling people to pay tolls directly from their bank accounts, Bkash, Nagad, or other MFS accounts without stopping for cash.
"We have already started operating electronic payments on these bridges with banks and MFS that have signed agreements. This will help ensure smooth toll collection during the peak traffic period of the Eid ul Fitr holiday," said Mohammad Al Amin Sarkar, computer system analyst at the RHD's Management Information Cell.
The RHD first introduced the ETC on a few bridges in 2019 through Rocket of Dutch Bangla Bank and Upay of United Commercial Bank (UCB).
However, limited participation by banks and MFS restricted the service's popularity, as most vehicle owners did not have accounts with these banks.
According to RHD data, out of 6.0 million registered vehicles under the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), only 54,661 vehicles have used the ETC system since its introduction. With the system's expansion, toll collection has increased in recent years.
Around 2.9 million vehicles used the ETC service across 15 bridges in 2025, paying Tk 600 million.
In 2024, 940,440 vehicles paid Tk 264 million electronically at seven registered bridges.
Officials said most registered vehicles belong to corporate fleets that regularly use highways, while the majority of private vehicle owners remained outside the system due to limited bank and MFS coverage.
Currently, BRAC Bank, Sonali Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Janata Bank, Eastern Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Bkash, Ekpay, and Software Shop Limited are part of RHD's service, and AB Bank has recently shown interest.
Mr Al Amin said that following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RHD on Thursday, Bkash has introduced a vehicle registration icon in its app. Bkash account holders can now register their vehicles through mobile to pay tolls.
RHD will also sign an agreement with Eastern Bank (EBL) within days to provide debit and credit card POS machines at booths.
Mohammad Ahsan Habib, procurement circle head of RHD, said that ETC expansion will reduce queues at all toll booths before Eid, making the system cashless and transactions more transparent.
However, he added that full benefits would only be realised after the efficient introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in all vehicles by BRTA, as booths can only detect vehicles with RFID-enabled number plates.
RHD operates 71 toll bridges in total, mainly managed by operators and leaseholders.
The 22 ETC-registered bridges are operated and maintained by third parties using RHD software for toll collection.
Among these, bridges such as Meghna, Gumti, Lalon Shah, and Karnaphuli experience high traffic and are located on key highways, including Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Mawa, and Chattogram-Cox's Bazar corridors.
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