The Supreme Court on Monday directed authorities to take concrete action on the ground to recover unpaid traffic challans, observing that merely issuing e-challans is not enough and questioning their overall effectiveness. Hearing the matter, Justice JB Pardiwala said that if citizens fail to pay traffic fines, authorities could explore linking the unpaid amounts to other government dues, including monthly electricity bills.

"If people are not paying traffic challans, add it to their electricity dues bill. They'll have to pay the electricity bill; otherwise, the power line will be disconnected. Work it out. In this country, you have to find a way out," the bench observed, as reported by Bar and Bench.

However, the apex court clarified that adding unpaid traffic fines to power bills was only a suggestion and not a formal directive for implementation.

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Over Rs 20,000 Crore In E-Challan Dues Across States

During the hearing, the court was informed that States and Union Territories have about Rs 45,000 crore in e-challan dues, out of which only around Rs 25,000 crore has been recovered so far.

Justice Pardiwala emphasised that authorities must keep ground realities in mind. He stated that while police departments may issue thousands or lakhs of e-challans daily, the real issue is the actual recovery of those fines.

Measures Suggested For Fine Recovery

For fine recovery, the Supreme Court suggested several strict measures against vehicles with pending traffic challans:

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  • Registration and Ownership Restrictions: Blocking the renewal of vehicle Registration Certificates (RC), stopping the issuance of duplicate RCs, and halting vehicle ownership transfers.
  • Withholding Essential Certificates: Refusing to issue Vehicle Fitness Certificates and Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates until pending challans are cleared.
  • Licence and Portal Restrictions: Blacklisting such vehicles on the central Parivahan portal, stopping driving licence renewals, and suspending existing driving licences.
  • Spot Checks and Vehicle Seizure: Carrying out random vehicle checks and, where necessary, authorising authorities to seize vehicles with unpaid e-challans.