NEW DELHI: Vehicle owners in the capital could soon get relief from years of unpaid traffic clallans as the Delhi government may soon bring an amnesty scheme to waive all challans.
The one-time waiver scheme may offer up to 80% reduction on challans to clear long-pending dues and improve revenue collection. The proposal aims to provide relief to vehicle owners by scrapping fines issued by the Delhi Police and the Enforcement Department.
Once cleared, the amnesty scheme will benefit thousands of vehicle owners registered in the city who have accumulated unpaid fines over the years due to procedural delays, non-service of notices, and pending court appeals.
Sources aware of the matter claimed that the proposal file has been sent to Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena for approval and could be placed before the Delhi Cabinet for clearance in the coming days. Once approved, the scheme would cover all traffic challans issued so far by enforcement agencies in Delhi.
According to the sources, the proposal has been drafted by the Delhi government’s Transport Department which will offer up to 60% waiver on challans issued to personal and commercial vehicles in the last 10 years, a 70% waiver for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, and 80% waiver for all two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
According to the reports, nearly 50 million traffic challans have been issued in the past decade. However, only around 2.7% of them have been realised so far, while nearly 97% still pending.
The Transport Department reported that of the 1.7 million challans generated in the past decade, 24.8% have been paid while 75% remain unsettled. The government believes the amnesty drive will help clear a significant portion of the backlog while unlocking non-tax revenue. If approved, the scheme will likely run for a limited window of 45 to 60 days, during which vehicle owners can settle their pending fines either online or through government’s transport portal.