Traffic police give 15-day ultimatum to e-challan defaulters

Mumbai traffic police have given violators with pending e-challans exceeding ₹20,000 a 15-day deadline to pay or face chargesheets and trials.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai traffic police have given a deadline of 15 days to violators whose pending e-challans exceed ₹20,000, to pay the amount or face the music.

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In one week, the traffic police sent 2,745 notices to violators to pay their fines or else chargesheets would be submitted against them in the metropolitan magistrate courts concerned with relevant charges so that they could be tried for the charges.

According to Pravin Padwal, joint commissioner of Traffic police, there are at least 10,656 violators who have several e-challans, with accumulated fines exceeding ₹20,000, pending against them. “These violators have failed to pay the challans for which we have given a 15-day ultimatum to clear their pending dues,” said Padwal.

Padwal said that the notices have already started to help them in the recovery. In seven days, the motorists have paid ₹2.27 crore. “The effect of notices has been positive,” said Padwal.

Officers said that they have managed to collect just 51% of e-challans issued by traffic cops over the last six years. According to the traffic police data till July 2023, around 2.47 crore total e-challans were issued by the police from January 2016, and the fines payable against them come to a total of ₹898.48 crore. Of these, motorists have cleared 1.19 crore challans by paying ₹386.5 crore in fines and the rest are outstanding.

Last year, traffic police officials had begun sending pre-litigation notices to motorists, to pay the fine or be present in the Lok Adalat. After this the police succeeded in recovering ₹420 crore e-challan.