BENGALURU: More than 83,000 people have died in road accidents in Karnataka over the last eight years, while thousands of traffic violations are reported across the state every day. Despite announcing five rebate schemes, the police department continues to grapple with over five crore pending e-challan traffic violation cases, with motorists owing a whopping Rs 2,727.38 crore in unpaid fines.
A serving senior IPS officer slammed the move stating that it was rewarding violators by offering discounts multiple times, whereas the thinking should be on imposing additional penalties on offenders for delaying payment of fines, in the interest of road safety.
The state government has announced a 50 per cent concession on pending traffic fines five times in recent years—three times in 2023 and twice in 2025. The sixth rebate scheme is scheduled to be implemented from June 21 to July 10.
According to data available with TNIE, between 2019 and April 2026, the Karnataka State Police, across six police commissionerates and nine districts, booked 7,46,56,150 traffic violations through the e-challan system and imposed fines amounting to Rs 3,605.93 crore.
Of this, Rs 878.55 crore has been collected. However, the fine amount 5,05,74,348 traffic violation cases remain unpaid, with authorities yet to recover Rs 2,727.38 crore.
Bengaluru city tops the list with 3,37,79,608 lakh pending traffic violation cases and Rs 1,843 crore in pending fines, followed by Mysuru city and Belagavi city.
‘Rebate schemes reduce fear of fines and may encourage violations’
Among the districts, Mysuru, Bengaluru South (earlier Ramanagara) and Mandya reported the highest number of pending traffic violation cases. A senior officer of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority said the authority would recommend the concession to the state government, which will take the final decision on the proposal.
Repeated traffic fine rebates reward violators
According to the data, from 2019 to May 2026, as many as 83,750 people have died in road accidents in the state. Meanwhile, an average of 30,000 traffic violations are reported every day in Bengaluru.
A senior traffic police officer told TNIE that instead of imposing penalties on offenders for delaying payment of fines, the government is repeatedly offering discounts. “Road safety remains a serious concern in the state, with multiple fatal accidents and lakhs of traffic violations reported every day. Road safety begins with following traffic rules. Fines are imposed to deter offenders from repeating violations and to encourage responsible road behaviour,” the officer said.
Mobility expert and Convener of the Sustainable Transportation Lab at IISc, Ashish Verma, said that the rebate scheme is an anti-poor measure. “Instead of educating people to obey traffic rules, the government is offering rebates. If people do not violate traffic rules, they do not have to pay fines. Such rebate schemes reduce the fear of penalties and may encourage violations,” Verma said.
BTP TO SETS UP 12 COUNTERS TO COLLECT TRAFFIC FINES
Twelve special counters will be set up by Bangalore Traffic Police to make use of the 50 per cent concession on traffic e-challan fines. This concession scheme will be in force from June 21, 2026, to July 10, 2026. During this period, individuals with outstanding traffic violation cases may settle them by paying 50 per cent of the prescribed fine amount.
The special counters will be set up at:
Hennur Junction, Ring Road
Devasandra Junction, Old Madras Road
Kundalahalli Junction, Old Airport Road
Mysuru Bank Junction, KG Road
Summanahalli Junction, Magadi Road
Metro (BHEL), Mysuru Road
Near RTO office, 12th Main Road
Jalahalli Cross Junction, Tumakuru Road
Hebbal Junction, Ballari Road
Sagar Junction, KG Road
Hosa Road Junction, Electronics City Road
Gottigere Junction, Bannerghatta Road
Payment can be made through the Karnataka State Police (KSP) app, BTP ASTraM app, nearest traffic police station, Traffic Management Centre, and Karnataka One website and centres.