The Supreme Court has been informed that outstanding traffic fines across India amount to about ₹49,194.05 crore. These include registration renewals, fitness and pollution-under-control certificates, ownership transfers, and driving licence renewals.
Such a huge amount cannot be ignored. Traffic police will have to find ways to collect this money. The Supreme Court has directed States and Union Territories to block a range of online and vehicle-related services for motorists with outstanding traffic fines. The repeated violations by police and other government vehicles have drawn criticism on social media, particularly as police personnel routinely enforce traffic rules and collect fines from the public. In his letter, Mr. Danappa alleged that the failure of the departments concerned to recover the outstanding amount reflected negligence. He stressed that the Police Department, being a disciplined force, responsible for traffic regulation, law and order and crime prevention, must set an example by adhering to traffic rules. In Tamil Nadu, the Greater Chennai Traffic Police set up a special e-challan call centres to help motorists check and settle pending traffic violation fines.
Paying all the traffic fines amounting to ₹49,194.05 crore would not fund the Ganga Expressway project, but it gives an idea of the challenge facing traffic police across India. In Karnataka, data furnished by the Home Department in September revealed that 82,208 traffic violation cases were registered against government vehicles over the past three-and-a-half years. Of these, fines amounting to ₹19,23,72,500 remain unpaid , according to KSPCA member Mohan Kumar Danappa. The Police Department vehicles alone accounted for 3,366 traffic violation cases during the period.
