Delhi transport dept set to blacklist vehicles over unpaid challans

Starting next week, vehicles in Delhi that rack up more than five unpaid challans pending for over 90 days will be “blacklisted” and their owners barred from selling them, purchasing insurance or renewing their pollution under-control (PUC) certificates, officials of the transport department said on Tuesday, outlining a move they hope will reduce the backlog of unpaid fines and improve traffic discipline

Starting next week, vehicles in Delhi that rack up more than five unpaid challans pending for over 90 days will be “blacklisted” and their owners barred from selling them, purchasing insurance or renewing their pollution under-control (PUC) certificates, officials of the transport department said on Tuesday, outlining a move they hope will reduce the backlog of unpaid fines and improve traffic discipline.

The vehicles will be blacklisted on the Vahan portal and the department has requested the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which operates the portal, to automate the process on the software. (HT Archive)

Owners will receive a 10-day notice before their vehicles are blacklisted, said transport officials aware of the plan.

The vehicles will be blacklisted on the Vahan portal and the department has requested the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which operates the portal, to automate the process on the software. Once all the fines are paid, the vehicle will be removed from the blacklist.

Transport commissioner Ashish Kundra said the decision was taken in consonance with an advisory the Union ministry of road transport and highways issued this April, urging states to impose such rules.

“The aim is to enforce traffic discipline among vehicle owners so that public spaces become safer and people are caused minimal inconvenience,” said Kundra.

A senior transport official, who asked not to be named, said that NIC was on November 29 sent a formal communication to enforce the ban.

“The decision to blacklist such vehicles was taken during a meeting last month. It was decided that NIC will be requested to make provisions in the software to blacklist defaulting vehicles,” said the official.

“NIC said the facility will be available by next week,” the official added.

To be sure, only vehicles registered in Delhi can be blacklisted. This means there is no mechanism in place to regulate those registered outside the Capital with more than five challans from plying on the city’s streets.

The official cited above said vehicles can be blacklisted under rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.

“Since the vehicles will be blacklisted on the Vahan portal, when the vehicle goes to renew its PUC certificate, the centre will not be able to carry out the test,” said the official.

The Union ministry of road transport and highways in April this year issued an advisory to the Delhi government regarding blacklisting vehicles on Vahan, and asked the transport department to implement it as per rule 167 of CMVR, 1989.

A draft of the notice that the government will send to the defaulting vehicles will say: “As per record of Transport Department, GNCTD, 5 or more challans of your vehicle number DL are pending for more than 90 days and you are requested to make the payment within 10 days failing which the transaction of the of the motor vehicle will be placed under the blacklisted category.”

Delhi has over 20 million pending challans against 5.8 million vehicles, including private and commercial vehicles which include cars, bikes, three-wheelers, trucks, and others, said transport department officials.

Most roads in Delhi are equipped with traffic cameras that automatically register challans against vehicles that overspeed or jump red lights.

The transport department has an enforcement wing that issues e-challans to vehicles violating transport department laws — such as plying end of legal life vehicles, and vehicles without valid PUCs.