Supreme Court Suggests Linking Unpaid Traffic Challans to Electricity Bills

The Supreme Court has suggested that the government explore linking unpaid traffic e-challans to electricity bills as a possible mechanism to recover outstanding traffic fines.

A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan observed that merely issuing e-challans is not enough and stressed that authorities must focus on the recovery of fines.

The court was informed that around ₹45,000 crore in e-challan fines is to be recovered by states and Union Territories, while approximately ₹25,000 crore has been recovered so far. This leaves a substantial amount still outstanding.

The bench also discussed several other possible measures against vehicles with unpaid challans, including blacklisting them on the Parivahan portal, blocking ownership transfers, withholding fitness and PUC certificates, and restricting the renewal of driving licences. Random checks and possible vehicle impounding in cases of unpaid challans were also suggested.