Supreme Court to Add Unpaid E-Challans to Electricity Bills
India’s Supreme Court has suggested linking unpaid traffic fines to electricity bills as authorities look for ways to recover a large backlog of e-challan dues.
The suggestion was made by a bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan during a hearing on the recovery of unpaid traffic fines.
The court stressed that issuing e-challans was not enough and that authorities needed effective mechanisms to collect the penalties.
The court was informed that around INR 45,000 crore in e-challan fines remained subject to recovery across Indian states and union territories, while about INR 25,000 crore had already been recovered.
Several other measures were also discussed, including blocking the renewal of vehicle registration certificates, ownership transfers, fitness certificates, and driving licenses for vehicles with unpaid challans.
The court also suggested blacklisting such vehicles on the Parivahan portal, withholding Pollution Under Control certificates, conducting random checks, and potentially impounding vehicles with outstanding fines.
The court clarified that adding traffic fines to electricity bills was only a suggestion made during the hearing and was not an order for implementation.
