New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday suggested that states and union territories (UTs) consider linking unpaid traffic e-challan fines to electricity bills as one measure to ensure recovery of outstanding penalties for traffic violations.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan suggested while hearing an application seeking effective implementation of electronic enforcement mechanisms for traffic violations and recovery of fines imposed through e-challans.
During the hearing, the Justice Pardiwala-led Bench stressed that issuing e-challans alone would serve little purpose unless effective mechanisms were in place to recover the fines.
“It is not just sufficient to keep issuing e-challans. Police may issue thousands and lakhs of such e-challans. The question is recovery of fines as sought to be imposed by way of the e-challans,” the apex court observed. It suggested linking unpaid traffic fines to electricity dues to incentivise defaulters to clear the outstanding amounts.
“If people are not paying traffic challans, add it to their electricity dues bill. They’ll have to pay electricity bills; otherwise, the power line will be disconnected. Work it out. In this country, you have to find a way out,” the top court remarked.
It also mulled several other measures to ensure recovery of unpaid e-challan fines. It suggested that renewal of registration certificates, issuance of duplicate registration certificates and changes in ownership details could be withheld until outstanding challans against a vehicle were cleared.
The Justice Pardiwala-led Bench further discussed the possibility of blocklisting vehicles having unpaid challans on the Parivahansewa portal and blocking transfer of ownership of such vehicles.
It also considered measures related to fitness certificates and Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, including withholding their issuance or renewal when traffic fines remain unpaid.
The Supreme Court also discussed preventing renewal of driving licenses where e-challans remain outstanding and taking appropriate steps for licenses already in force.
The Justice Pardiwala-led Bench also suggested random checking of vehicles to identify those against which e-challans had not been honoured.
“Let there be random checking of vehicles and if found that e-challan has not been honoured necessary steps to be taken to impound the vehicle itself,” it observed.
The Supreme Court asked the amicus curiae, senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, to prepare a chart setting out the directions issued by the apex court, the time granted for their implementation, their current status, and the amicus curiae’s remarks.
The issue of poor recovery of e-challan fines also came before the apex court in 2023, when an application sought the development of an effective and time-bound mechanism for recovering penalties imposed through e-challans.
At the time, the applicant had contended that the low rate of recovery of fines substantially diluted the objective of electronic enforcement of traffic rules. The application relied on data furnished by the Union government in the Rajya Sabha, according to which only 7.61 per cent of the total fine amount imposed through e-challans had been recovered, against penalties amounting to more than Rs 3,877 crore.
(IANS)
