Unpaid challans: Traffic penalties don’t deter violations when a pvt vehicle can continue to ply

Transport official says pending fines do not stop commercial vehicles from getting fitness certificates or permit renewals, raising questions about how effectively challans deter repeat violations

A private bus which overturned at the zero point of the Lucknow-Agra Expressway on Monday, killing three people and injuring around 45, had five unpaid challans worth ₹27,000, regional transport officer (enforcement) Prabhat Pandey said. Its papers, including its fitness and permit documents, were valid, he said.

For representation only (HT File Photo)

The bus was carrying around 56 passengers despite having a seating capacity of 40.

Pandey said pending challans do not prevent a commercial vehicle from obtaining or renewing its fitness certificate, permit or tax clearance.

“If a commercial vehicle has a challan, its other work does not stop,” he said. A pending challan can affect the issuance of a no-objection certificate and the transfer of a vehicle, he added, but other transport-related services remain available.

In practice, this means an operator may leave fines unpaid and still renew documents required to keep a bus on the road. Pandey said linking pending challans to more services could make enforcement stricter.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated. Initial checks suggest the driver may have dozed off, while officials are also examining whether the bus’s left tyre burst, Pandey said. These are preliminary possibilities; the inspection is continuing.

He directed officials to arrange driver health and sobriety checks before vehicles enter expressways, enforce speed limits and take action against violations.

The challan issue has surfaced after other deadly bus crashes in Uttar Pradesh. In February, a bus that overturned on Lucknow’s Purvanchal Expressway, killing five people, had 67 pending challans.

In September, records showed about ₹1.75 lakh in traffic fines against a bus in which nine passengers died in a fire on the Yamuna Expressway.

A 2024 crash on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway that killed 18 people involved a bus with at least 80 pending challans.