On-road price is the total amount you actually pay to drive a new car home in India. It adds state road tax and registration charges, mandatory insurance, TCS (on cars above ₹10 lakh) and small charges like FASTag to the ex-showroom price. Depending on your state and the car, it is typically 10–25% higher than the ex-showroom price.
What goes into it
The standard breakup is: ex-showroom price + road tax and registration (4–20% of ex-showroom, set by your state) + first-year comprehensive insurance and third-party cover + 1% TCS if the ex-showroom price exceeds ₹10 lakh + FASTag and hypothecation fees where applicable. Dealers often add handling or accessory charges on top; these are negotiable, the statutory items are not. Our on-road price explainer walks through each line item.
Why it matters when buying
The same car has a different on-road price in every city because road tax slabs differ by state, price band and fuel type. A ₹10 lakh ex-showroom petrol car can land at roughly ₹11.3 lakh on-road in one state and ₹12.2 lakh in another. Comparing cars by ex-showroom price alone can flip your ranking once taxes are applied — and it's the on-road figure your loan and EMI are based on, so check how much car you can actually afford against it.
A concrete example
Ex-showroom ₹8,00,000; road tax at 11% = ₹88,000; insurance ≈ ₹35,000; registration and FASTag ≈ ₹2,500. On-road price ≈ ₹9,25,500 — about 16% above the sticker.