NHAI New Ambulance Rules: 10-Minute Crash Response, 1-Hour Hospital Deadline On Highways

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tightened emergency response rules for ambulances operating on national highways, introducing strict timelines for reaching accident sites and transporting victims to hospitals. The new guidelines also prescribe financial penalties for delays, refusal of emergency tickets and non-compliance with tracking requirements.

Under the revised system, emergency tickets must be accepted within one minute. A delay beyond the stipulated time will attract a penalty of INR 5,000 for every additional minute or part of a minute.

Ambulances Must Start Within Two Minutes

After accepting an emergency ticket, the ambulance must begin moving within two minutes. A penalty of INR 5,000 will be imposed for every additional minute of delay. Local Pass Available on RajmargYatra App: How To Get Digital Toll Pass Without Visiting Plaza.

For accidents located within 10 km, ambulances must reach the crash site within 10 minutes of ticket acceptance. The response time will be extended proportionately for incidents located farther away, reported Jagran.

Missing the response deadline will attract a penalty of INR 10,000 for each instance.

One-Hour Deadline For Hospital Transfer

The new guidelines also require accident victims to be transported to the nearest hospital within one hour of the emergency ticket being accepted.

Failure to meet the deadline will result in an additional penalty of INR 10,000.

Ambulance operators cannot refuse emergency tickets. Each instance of refusal will attract a penalty of INR 10,000. No More Cash at Toll Plazas: NHAI Plans Cashless Toll System Across India’s Highways, Digital Payments via FASTag and UPI Only From April 2026.

NHAI Makes Real-Time Tracking Mandatory

The NHAI Care/Incident Management System has been made mandatory for all on-road emergency units deployed across NHAI projects.

Ambulances, cranes and patrol vehicles must be equipped with AIS-140-compliant GPS, Android devices with IoT SIMs and the NHAI Care app. Incident Managers will monitor emergency responses in real time through tablets.

NHAI has also flagged poor adoption of the Care Dashboard and mobile application, weak GPS uptime and vehicles remaining offline as factors that could delay emergency response.

24x7 Call Centre And Doctor-Led Triage

The new system includes a 24x7 central call centre with eight helpline staff per shift. Doctor-led triaging will also be used to assess emergency cases.

The system has been mandated to maintain more than 99% daily uptime.

Other violations will also attract penalties. Non-use of the required app or GPS non-compliance can result in a penalty of INR 2,500 per day, while equipment or staffing deficiencies can attract INR 10,000 per inspection.

Daily Mock Drills For Highway Ambulances

Ambulances are required to conduct a daily 5-km mock drill unless they are already deployed on an emergency call.

The penalties imposed under the system will be automatically deducted from service providers' payments, with the total monthly penalty capped at INR 2.5 lakh.

The move follows concerns raised by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety and findings from a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit. NHAI has directed officials to ensure strict implementation of the new emergency response guidelines across national highway projects.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2026 10:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).