Non-payment of traffic e-challan within 3 months may lead to driving license suspension, higher insurance premiums

The Indian government is mulling the plan to enforce some stricter punitive measures to increase the recovery of traffic fines. The government has proposed a series of measures to penalise the drivers for non-compliance with the rules. According to new draft rules, driving licences could be suspended for non-payment of traffic e-challans.

The vehicle owners will have to settle traffic e-challans within three months or face suspension of driving license. Also, the drivers who have accumulated three challans for jumping a red signal or dangerous driving in one financial year could see their driving licences suspended for at least three months. Besides this, the draft rule also calls for the linking of vehicle insurance premiums with traffic e-challans. Due to this, if a driver has two or more pending challans from the previous financial year, he or she might have to pay a higher amount of vehicle insurance premium.

India records an alarmingly high number of road accidents, related deaths and injuries every year. Earlier, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari reported that India experienced approximately 480,000 road accidents, resulting in 180,000 fatalities and around 400,000 serious injuries. He emphasized that out of these deaths, 140,000 occurred among individuals aged 18 to 45 years, with two-wheeler riders and pedestrians being particularly vulnerable. Additionally, Gadkari underlined that these accidents lead to an economic loss equivalent to three per cent of the nation's GDP.

To curb that, the government is planning a plethora of measures. The government has increased the amount of penalties for various different traffic rule violations. In many cases, the perpetrators avoid paying the penalties despite being fined.

The government is also planning to implement a comprehensive standard operating procedure after recognising that some e-challans may be unpaid due to late notifications or errors. For this, the government is planning to include minimum specifications for traffic cameras and monthly alerts to vehicle owners about outstanding fines.

Delhi has the lowest recovery of e-challans

Statistics-wise, Delhi currently has the lowest recovery rate for traffic challans at just 14 per cent, followed by Karnataka at 21 per cent and Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh at 27 per cent. On the other hand, Maharashtra and Haryana have traffic challan recovery rates of 62 and 76 per cent, respectively.

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