The government is bringing new traffic rules that will strictly penalize those who do not pay their traffic challans on time. If you receive a traffic fine and fail to pay it within 90 days, your driving license (DL) may be suspended. Additionally, multiple violations, such as jumping a red light or overspeeding three times, could result in your license being seized for at least three months.
These new regulations aim to improve road discipline and ensure people take traffic rules seriously. Many drivers ignore challans, leading to unpaid fines accumulating over time. However, with these new rules in place, avoiding payment could cause bigger problems.
Pending Challans Can Increase Your Vehicle Insurance Cost
The government is also working on a plan where vehicle insurance costs may rise for those with at least two unpaid challans from the previous year. This means if you don’t clear your dues on time, renewing your vehicle insurance might cost more money.
Insurance companies will check a driver’s record, and if there are pending challans, the premium rates could be increased. This new system will encourage people to clear their fines on time and follow traffic rules more responsibly.
New E-Challan Rules: Faster Notifications and Strict Action
To make the challan payment system smoother, the government is introducing some new rules:
- Once a challan is issued, a notice will be sent within three days.
- After receiving the notice, the challan must be paid within 30 days, or the driver can file a complaint if they believe it was wrongly issued.
- If no response is received within 30 days, the authorities will assume the violation was genuine.
- If the challan remains unpaid for 90 days, the driving license (DL) or vehicle registration certificate (RC) will be suspended.
- If a driver believes the challan was wrongly issued, they can file an online complaint. The matter must be resolved within 30 days, or the challan will be automatically canceled.
These steps ensure that people take their challans seriously and act promptly.
Which States Are Behind in E-Challan Payments?
Despite the government’s efforts, many people across India are still not paying their traffic challans. Data from various states show a low rate of challan payments:
- Delhi: Only 14% of challans are paid.
- Karnataka: The payment rate is 21%.
- Tamil Nadu & Uttar Pradesh: Around 27% challans are paid.
- Odisha: The figure is 29%.
- Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana have better payment rates, ranging between 62% to 76%.
The government is working on ways to improve compliance by making challan payments easier and ensuring stricter penalties for defaulters.
Updating Your Mobile Number and Address is Now Mandatory
One of the biggest issues in challan payments is that many people change their mobile numbers and addresses, so they don’t receive challan notifications. To fix this problem, the government has decided to make address and mobile number updates mandatory.
Here’s what vehicle owners need to do:
- They will get three months to update their correct mobile number and address.
- After this period, if the details are not updated, certain restrictions will apply:
- Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate will not be issued.
- Vehicle insurance renewal will not be possible.
- New driving licenses and vehicle registrations will be blocked.
By ensuring that vehicle owners keep their information updated, the government aims to make the challan process more efficient.
Why the Government is Taking These Steps
Traffic violations have been a major issue in India for a long time. Many people break rules like overspeeding, jumping red lights, and driving without helmets or seat belts. However, when fines are imposed, a significant number of violators do not pay their challans.
This creates several problems:
- The government loses revenue from unpaid fines.
- Lawbreakers continue to drive without facing consequences.
- Road accidents and violations increase due to careless driving habits.
By making these new rules stricter, the authorities aim to reduce traffic violations and make roads safer for everyone.
How to Check and Pay Your Pending Challan
With the increasing digitization of services, checking and paying challans has become easier. Here’s how you can do it:
- Visit the official e-challan website (Parivahan portal).
- Enter your vehicle number or challan number.
- Check the details of pending fines.
- Make an online payment using net banking, UPI, or credit/debit cards.
- Download the receipt for future reference.
It is important to pay your challans on time to avoid license suspension and other penalties.
Final Thoughts
The government is getting stricter with traffic violations, and ignoring challan payments can now have serious consequences. License suspension, increased insurance costs, and restrictions on vehicle-related services are all part of the new traffic rules.
To stay safe and avoid unnecessary trouble, always follow traffic rules, update your mobile number and address, and clear any pending challans on time.
