The Supreme Court has directed authorities across the country to take strict action against vehicles with unpaid e-challans, including seizure and freezing of vehicle-related services until outstanding traffic fines are cleared.
In its September 28 order in the road-safety case ‘S. Rajasekaran vs Union of India’, the Supreme Court directed states and union territories to ensure recovery of unpaid e-challans, warning that vehicles could be seized and their RC, Pollution Under Control (PUC) and fitness certificates, as well as resale and ownership transfer, blocked until the fines are cleared.
“It is not just sufficient to keep issuing e-challans to the person who is alleged to have violated the provisions of the Act,” the court said.
"We are informed by the amicus as well as the applicant that the States/UTs have to recover Rs 49,194.05 crore approximately towards the e-challans issued over a period of time. We are also informed that so far an amount of Rs 26,175.05 crore has been recovered," the SC added.
"...The authorities need to work at the ground level having regard to the ground realities," said the court.
The bench directed authorities to bar renewal or issuance of duplicate registration certificates and not entertain requests to update the owner's address until the dues are cleared. Fitness certificates must also be withheld, while the vehicle must be blacklisted on the Parivahan portal, preventing its sale and ownership transfer.
For multiple violations, the SC directed that renewal of the offender’s driving licence be suspended and steps be taken to suspend a licence that is already in force.
The court further directed authorities to conduct random checks and impound vehicles if their owners have failed to comply with e-challans.
The bench noted that lakhs of challans were being generated but recovery through courts was proving difficult because of the large volume of cases.
The court also directed all states, Union Territories, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other road agencies to make electronic enforcement AI-enabled. The system should be capable of detecting 12 categories of violations under Rule 167A(3) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, and issuing e-challans as prescribed by law.
It ordered the integration of VAHAN-4, SARATHI, e-Challan, e-DAR, iRAD and traffic control rooms into the National Road Safety System.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) was directed to create a public dashboard, updated every month, containing state-wise and corridor-wise data on electronic surveillance, the number of enforcement devices, their working status, and violations monitored versus challans issued.
The bench warned that the directions must be implemented on the ground and not remain on paper, and said strict action should be taken against officials responsible for non-compliance.
It also clarified that the enforcement data would be made public every month.