Toll-road companies in the NEXCO groups are intensifying their efforts to deter and crack down on toll-dodgers. These measures include installing countermeasure cameras, actively encouraging reporting incidents to the police, and cooperating with investigations. They are also using press releases to announce arrests and publicize successful legal actions against violators.

In January 2025, NEXCO East highlighted two specific cases: one involving a driver on the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line who was charged with destroying a toll booth bar and another on the Daisan Keihin where a user was accused of removing their license plate to avoid being identified while forcing their way through an ETC lane.

Current penalties for violation of the Road Development Special Measures Act can result in criminal penalties (fines of up to 300,000 yen) based on Article 59, as well as tolls and surcharges dodged (equivalent to twice the dodged toll) based on Article 26 being collected.

In a unified effort to eradicate unauthorized traffic, September was designated a “Month of Strong Countermeasures against Unauthorized Traffic,” with road companies working together to combat the issue. It was also noted that mistakes happen and that it’s important to stop and resolve the issue at the tool gate. Several weeks ago, I had a gate not open at Susuno on the Tomei Expressway and as I didn’t want to be rear ended, after stopping and acknowledging the nearest toll troll, I rode around the bar and pulled over to the side of the road out of harm’s way. It was a problem with their system and quickly resolved.

NEXCO stated their commitment to this campaign, emphasizing that toll roads are maintained by the payments of all users and they would “not tolerate unauthorized passage.” It’s a good bet that they’ll continue their efforts to ensure income collection, fair toll collection and maintain customer trust.

These measures aren’t without reason and it’s not just individuals inciting the ire of NEXCO and authorities either. In a notable case from 2023, a company president and two drivers were arrested in Kanagawa Prefecture. They were accused of repeatedly driving trucks extremely close to the vehicle in front of them in ETC lanes to avoid being charged. The company’s president admitted to doing this over 850 times to cut costs.

The first case of motorcycle toll dodging was also in Kanagawa back in 2007. More recently, in early 2025, a motorcyclist in Aichi was arrested for multiple instances of toll-dodging over a one year period. Other notable cases of repeat toll-dodging, falsely identifying entry gates and even card swapping have also been reported.

Moral of the story, with over 7 million vehicles using ETC daily and 95.3% of vehicles in Japan equipped with ETC, it is becoming obvious that the period for ignoring teething introduction issues is over. So, check your cards are valid and that the little green light is on.

Ride far, ride well.

Source:

NEXCO, Yahoo News, Asahi Shimbun, Kuruma News