India may link traffic fines to power bills

India is considering a new way to recover unpaid traffic e-challans by adding the fines to electricity bills.

Many people reportedly do not pay their e-challans, especially when they face high penalties.

The unusual proposal was discussed by the Supreme Court of India during a hearing on digital traffic monitoring and the recovery of pending fines.

According to reports around ₹45,000 crore in traffic e-challans is currently pending across Indian states and union territories. Of this amount about ₹25,000 crore has reportedly been recovered.

Court focuses on recovering unpaid fines

The Supreme Court said that simply issuing a large number of traffic challans is not enough. The bigger challenge is ensuring that the fines are actually collected.

The two judge bench suggested that authorities could consider adding unpaid traffic fines to electricity bills in cases where people fail to pay their e-challans.

This would allow the authorities to recover the outstanding amount through regular household electricity payments.

Other measures also suggested

The court also discussed several other possible steps against vehicles with long-pending traffic fines.

These may include stopping the renewal of vehicle registration restricting ownership transfers and blacklisting vehicles on the transport portal.

Authorities could also consider withholding fitness and Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates for vehicles with unpaid challans.

Driving licences could also be affected

The court further suggested considering restrictions on the renewal of driving licences for people who repeatedly fail to pay their traffic fines.

Existing licences could also be suspended in certain cases. Another proposal was to allow authorities to seize vehicles during checks if the owner has failed to clear pending fines.

The suggestions are aimed at improving the recovery of unpaid traffic penalties and encouraging vehicle owners to follow traffic rules.