Traffic challan disposal dips to 17.8% in Jan-Oct, revenue falls by a third

New Delhi: Lack of enforcement at the state level and institutional bottlenecks have significantly impacted the realisation of challan revenue, with only 17.8% of challans disposed of during the first 10 months of 2026 compared with more than 53.3% in the corresponding period of 2022, while challan revenue collection fell to 16.7% from 51.5% four years ago.

Poor enforcement, either due to system inefficiency or political pressures, meant that safety aspects have been compromised, resulting in an increasing number of road accidents and fatalities and increasing pollution levels year after year, said an industry expert, requesting anonymity. Of the 90.4 million challans issued during the January-October period, just 16.1 million were disposed of, while 74.2 million remain pending, according to the road transport and highways ministry data. The total fine amount issued during the period stood at ₹16,903.93 crore, of which authorities collected only ₹2,824.38 crore, leaving ₹14,079.55 crore pending.

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A government official, however, attributed the declining rate of disposal of traffic challans to a higher number of e-challans being generated through automated enforcement systems while the capacity of traffic police, transport departments and courts has failed to keep pace with the rising number of violations.

"There is a huge institutional bottleneck and, because unpaid challans do not attract severe penalties, motorists think they can get away with it," the official added. In the first 10 months of 2026, only about 800,000, or 2.9% of cases, were disposed of in courts compared to the 14.3 million sent, resulting in a pendency of 13.4 million cases.

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Data shows that since 2015, enforcement agencies have issued 495.7 million e-challans, totalling ₹76,686.2 crore. However, 305.4 million penalties remain unpaid, with a total unpaid amount of ₹50,226.1 crore. The figures assume significance following a September 28 Supreme Court order directing states and union territories to tighten enforcement against motorists who fail to pay traffic fines.

While the number of challans issued in October remained the same as in the previous month, at 8.3 million, last month saw the disposal of 800,000 cases compared with one million cases in September. The apex court directed authorities to freeze online vehicle-related services for vehicles with outstanding challans, including registration renewal, the issuance of duplicate registration certificates and fitness certification.

It also directed authorities to blacklist such vehicles on the Parivahan portal, block ownership transfers and deny pollution under control certificates until pending traffic fines are cleared.

In cases involving multiple violations, driving licence renewals are to be suspended and steps must be taken to suspend licences in force.