'Add unpaid traffic challans to electricity bills', Supreme Court suggests way to recover dues

The Supreme Court on Monday suggested that unpaid traffic challans could be linked to electricity bills as it questioned the effectiveness of issuing lakhs of e-challans without ensuring recovery of the penalties imposed on motorists.

A Bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan was hearing a plea concerning electronic enforcement of traffic violations and recovery of unpaid e-challan fines when it was informed that states and Union Territories had to recover around Rs 45,000 crore in such penalties. Around Rs 25,000 crore has been recovered so far, leaving approximately Rs 20,000 crore outstanding.

Focus on recovery

The Bench said authorities needed to look beyond merely generating e-challans and devise practical mechanisms to ensure that fines were actually recovered from violators.

Justice Pardiwala observed that police could issue thousands or lakhs of e-challans, but the larger question was whether the fines imposed through them were being recovered. The court asked authorities to work out measures suited to ground realities to improve compliance.

Electricity bill link

Among the measures discussed, the court suggested exploring whether outstanding traffic fines could be added to the electricity bills of defaulters. The idea was that linking the two payments could create an additional incentive for motorists to clear their traffic dues.

The suggestion was part of the court’s discussion on possible recovery mechanisms and was not a direction that unpaid challans must immediately be included in electricity bills.

Vehicle services

The court also suggested restricting access to several vehicle-related services until outstanding challans are cleared. These could include preventing renewal of registration certificates, issuance of duplicate certificates and changes in vehicle ownership details.

Vehicles with outstanding challans could also be blacklisted on the Parivahan portal and ownership transfers blocked. The court further discussed withholding fitness and Pollution Under Control certificates until the fines are paid.

Licence restrictions

Driving licences also figured in the possible enforcement measures considered by the Bench. Authorities could examine preventing renewal of licences and taking steps towards suspension in cases involving unpaid challans.

The court also suggested random checking of vehicles to identify those carrying outstanding e-challans. Where pending fines are detected during such checks, authorities could consider taking steps to impound the vehicle.

Road safety case

The issue arose during the hearing of an application seeking implementation of electronic enforcement mechanisms under Section 136A of the Motor Vehicles Act, read with Rule 167A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules.

The application forms part of a long-running public interest litigation on road safety filed in 2012 by Coimbatore-based orthopaedic surgeon S Rajaseekaran. Over the years, the Supreme Court has issued several directions concerning road safety, enforcement of motor vehicle laws and measures aimed at reducing accidents.

The Bench has now asked amicus curiae and Senior Advocate Gaurav Agarwal to prepare a chart detailing the directions issued by the court, the time granted for their implementation, their present status and his remarks on compliance.