Unpaid traffic dues? SC's big idea to recover Rs 20,000 crore via power bills

The Supreme Court suggested linking unpaid traffic challans to electricity bills to improve recovery, saying merely issuing e-challans was not enough. The court was told that states and Union Territories have around Rs 45,000 crore in pending e-challan dues, of which around Rs 25,000 crore has been recovered so far.

In Short

• States and Union Territories reported about Rs 45,000 crore in pending dues
• Around Rs 25,000 crore has been recovered from outstanding e-challan fines
• Justice JB Pardiwala said recovery must reflect practical conditions on ground

The Supreme Court has said that authorities must take concrete steps on the ground to recover unpaid traffic challans, observing that merely issuing e-challans is not enough and questioning their effectiveness. During a hearing, Justice JB Pardiwala said that if people do not pay traffic challans, authorities could explore ways to recover the amount by linking it to other government dues, including electricity bills.

“If people are not paying traffic challans, add it to their electricity dues bill. They’ll have to pay the electricity bill, otherwise the power line will be disconnected. Work it out. In this country, you have to find a way out,” the Supreme Court observed, as reported by Bar and Bench.

The court was told that states and Union Territories have about Rs 45,000 crore in pending e-challan dues, of which around Rs 25,000 crore has been recovered so far.

Justice Pardiwala said the authorities would have to act while keeping ground realities in mind. He observed that the police may issue thousands, or even lakhs, of e-challans, but the real issue is the recovery of the fines imposed through them.

MEASURES SUGGESTED BY THE SUPREME COURT

The court said steps such as blocking the renewal of registration certificates for vehicles with pending challans could be considered. It also said the issuance of duplicate registration certificates in such cases could be stopped, and the transfer of ownership of such vehicles could also be blocked.

The court further said that a vehicle's fitness certificate should not be issued until its challans are cleared. It also suggested considering the blacklisting of such vehicles on the Parivahan portal and stopping the renewal of driving licences linked to pending challans.

Among the other steps discussed were suspending driving licences that have already been issued and refusing to issue PUC certificates for vehicles with unpaid challans. The court also said random checks of vehicles should be carried out and that, where a vehicle has an unpaid e-challan, the authorities could, if necessary, move to seize it.

Justice Pardiwala said that for the system to work effectively in the country, authorities would have to find solutions that take ground realities into account. At the same time, the court made it clear that the idea of adding unpaid traffic challans to electricity bills was only a suggestion during the hearing and not a direction for implementation.

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