Truck, with 242 pending challans worth ₹35.43 lakh in fines across four states, impounded in Gurugram

The pending challans were issued by the law traffic police and transport departments in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

A dumper truck was impounded in Gurugram after cops found that 242 traffic challans amounting to a cumulative fine of ₹35.43 lakh were pending against it during a routine vehicle check near Bilaspur Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway on Tuesday, police officials said on Wednesday.

Officials said this was the highest challan and fine pendency detected during vehicle checks in Gurugram till now. (Sourced)

Police said the challan pendency was from the last three years and included various types of violations, mainly overloading, no-entry, speeding, red-light jumping, driving without a number plate, and others.

Traffic police officials said that the pending challans were issued by the law traffic police and transport departments in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

They said this was the highest challan and fine pendency detected during vehicle checks in Gurugram till now.

Police said the truck, bearing Uttar Pradesh registration number, was stopped for checking by assistant sub-inspector Prashant, the traffic zonal officer at Bilaspur Chowk.

Traffic inspector Lokesh, station house officer (traffic first), who has jurisdiction over the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) from Kherki Daula toll plaza to Kapriwas, said a scrutiny of the pending fines revealed that the majority of the 242 challans were for overloading, issued by the Rajasthan regional transport office.

Besides, fines were also imposed on the truck for violations of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, in Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Nuh, and Mahendragarh in Haryana; Haldwani in Uttarakhand; and Moradabad and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

Lokesh said the truck is registered in the name of a construction firm based in Uttar Pradesh.

“It will now be released only on court order after the owner pays the fine,” he said.

Special enforcement drive in Gurugram

The seizure comes amid a special enforcement drive against vehicles carrying large amounts of unpaid traffic fines in Gurugram.

On September 30, the Gurugram traffic police impounded a motorcycle in Udyog Vihar after finding 126 pending challans worth ₹10.30 lakh against it. Most of the violations involved riding without a helmet, not having a valid pollution-under-control (PUC) certificate, and not having a number plate.

In another case on August 3, the traffic police impounded a Thar after finding black film on its windows, a missing high-security registration plate and six pending challans worth ₹89,000. The vehicle was stopped near Sirhaul toll plaza during a routine vehicle checking drive, police said.

The traffic police are conducting special enforcement drives against motorists who repeatedly violate traffic rules and fail to clear their outstanding fines, which, according to an estimate, amounts to at least ₹100 crore in Gurugram.

At least 10000 vehicles have been impounded in the last year so that the hefty pending fines against them could be realised in accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, officials said.