BHUBANESWAR: With a huge backlog of challans pending across various levels, the state cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal of the Commerce and Transport department for a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to encourage traffic rule violators to settle the dues.
Briefing mediapersons after the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said a large number of challans issued for Motor Vehicle (MV) Act violation remain unpaid by the violators and poses a challenge for the enforcement staff of the Transport department to recover outstanding fines and ensure road safety.
As a significant number of pending challans remain unresolved, the government has announced the OTS scheme for e-challans as of July 31, pending at the RTO levels under certain sections of the MV Act, he added.
The initiative will provide a one-time opportunity for violators to close their challans by paying a reduced fine amount. The scheme offers a compassionate yet firm approach for encouraging compliance, with the reduction in fines applicable under the MV Act, the chief secretary said.
“Primary objectives of this scheme are to recover outstanding fines efficiently and promote road safety by encouraging violators to adopt safer driving habits. This is a limited opportunity as the violators can pay a reduced amount, whereas post the scheme’s validity, they will pay as prescribed in the MV Act,” Ahuja said.
The Transport department will oversee implementation of the OTS and strengthen enforcement measures against repeat violators and those unwilling to improve their conduct on the roads.
A committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary, Law department will be constituted to look into the challans already sent to court and take appropriate decision on disposal of such cases. The OTS scheme will be in effect for six months from the date of issuance of the government notification.