Via Dutra Free Flow tariff revision takes effect on October 23

Brazil’s National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) approved updated Free Flow toll parameters for a 25-kilometre section of the Presidente Dutra highway, BR-116/SP, linking São Paulo, Guarulhos and Arujá. The agency said the new values took effect at midnight on October 23. The adjustment is the first since the electronic toll system began operating in December 2025 and applies to the express lanes between kilometres 205 and 230; drivers using only the marginal lanes are not charged the Free Flow toll.

The agency tied the update to the fourth ordinary review of the concession contract and its 15th bilateral amendment. It set a basic kilometre toll rate of R$0.14024 with reference to the Arujá toll plaza and incorporated a 4.44% IPCA variation into the tariff adjustment index. ANTT also revised a management factor used in the calculation. As a result, the final charge depends on more than inflation: the segment travelled, direction, day and time can affect the amount for a trip on the express lanes.

The agency said the concessionaire’s tariff simulator can show the amount for a selected route, direction, date and time. It did not publish a single flat price for the whole section in its announcement, because the charge varies by segment and use conditions. Financial effects under the concession contract are counted from September 1, 2026, but the updated customer rates apply only from October 23. The distinction separates the contract’s accounting reference date from the date drivers begin to see the revised tolls.

Several rules remain unchanged. Motorcycles pay half of the applicable toll, while vehicles using a tag retain a 5% discount with automatic debit through their contracted provider. Drivers without a tag have up to 30 days after passage to pay through official concessionaire channels. A driver who passes the Arujá toll plaza and continues directly to the express lane avoids an additional charge; if the driver enters the marginal lane, the release says there is a two-hour window to return to the express lane without that extra toll.

The new parameters were authorized by ANTT Deliberation 298, dated October 16 and published in the federal official gazette on October 20. The agency said the concessionaire must make the approved tariff information broadly available before travel and directed drivers to official channels for lookup and payment. It warned against suspicious links and third-party payment requests, noting that the operator does not issue Free Flow payment slips. The announcement concerns a specific concession stretch and tariff formula; it is not a nationwide toll-price change. Because the agency points drivers to a simulator rather than a single tariff, the user must select the relevant trip conditions to see the payable amount. The published basic rate is one input to that calculation, not the price of every passage.