BHUBANESWAR: A staggering 31 lakh e-challans issued for motor vehicle rule violations are awaiting settlement in Odisha.
Official sources said about 59 lakh e-challans were issued till July 31. Of them, about 31 lakh e-challans, constituting 52 per cent of the total, were pending at the regional transport officer (RTO) levels. Another 18 lakh e-challans are under process in the courts. The remaining 10 lakh have been disposed of.
The state government on Wednesday approved the Commerce and Transport department proposal for a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to encourage violators to settle their dues. The OTS scheme will be in effect for six months from the date the government issued a formal notification.
Many of the challans were issued for driving without valid driving license or in contravention of age restrictions (under section 181), dangerous driving, over-speeding, jumping red lights and using mobile phones while driving (section 184), offences relating to licences (section 182) and using vehicle without registration (section 192), general provision for punishment of offences (section 177) and disobedience of orders (section 179) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Thousands of e-challans and fines amounting to crores of rupees are pending at RTOs across the state. For instance, about 87,808 challans and fines amounting to a whopping Rs 30.42 crore are pending at RTO-I in Bhubaneswar from January 1, 2021 to July 31, 2025.
E-challans worth Rs 54 cr issued by Cuttack RTO between 2021 and 2025
RTO-I had issued more than 1.14 lakh e-challans during the period. Bhubaneswar has two RTOs.
Under Cuttack RTO, the total number of e-challans issued between 2021 and July 2025 stood at 1,53,364 of which 1,16,229 were pending. The total pending fine amount stands at Rs 54.03 crore.
As per the Cabinet decision, 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 initiative will provide a one-time opportunity for violators to close their e-challans by paying a reduced fine amount. On Wednesday, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja had said that the scheme offers a compassionate yet firm approach for encouraging compliance, with the reduction in fines applicable under the MV Act.
“States like Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Sikkim and others had earlier implemented such schemes successfully. We hope to achieve similar success in Odisha too,” said Transport commissioner Amitabh Thakur.
Since a significant number of pending e-challans remain unresolved, the government announced the OTS scheme, he added.