New Delhi: International Road Federation (IRF) a Geneva based global road safety body working for better and safer roads worldwide expressing concern over piling pending unpaid traffic challans across the nation in a letter to Mr Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has suggested various strict rules to recover the pending fines.
“In India pending unpaid traffic challans are piling up in each city including about Five crore in the National capital alone. Various measures taken up by the Government including vehicle ownership transfer restriction until all pending challans are disposed of as well targeted enforcement by traffic police are already showing effectiveness in prompt compliance but still more strict and effective measures are needed for recovery of fines” said Mr K K Kapila, President Emeritus, International Road Federation (IRF) in his letter.
“Currently the courts including Lok Adalats quash most e-challans due to uncertainty of the violation-detecting ITS equipment. MoRTH has recently introduced gazette notification mandating certification of radars being used to strengthen legal position on this aspect. Similarly for cameras certification norms are being proposed. Additionally Uniform National architecture for ITMS is being prepared for wider purposes, including enforcement and linking many other DPIs (Digital Public Platforms) and databases for advanced analytics using AI.” Said MR Kapiola.
“Various organizations and Think Tanks, such as IRF, ITS India Forum, ARRI, ICAT, and Civil societies/ foundations like Save LIFE Foundation, and others, are aggressively pushing the government to implement the following regulatory changes as soon as possible. These include Suspension of Driving Licenses: Drivers who fail to pay e-challans within three months could face a suspension of their driving license
Linking Insurance and PUC Renewal to the settlement of pending challans.” He added
Other suggestions include Renewal of Insurance to be blocked until dues are cleared and No claim bonus can be foregone if the e-challan is pending, and Exploring the possibility with the Insurance regulator body to recover the e-challan amount from the insurance claim. Allocate negative points for traffic violations, leading to suspension or cancellation of driving licenses for repeated offenders .Allocate negative points for traffic violations and link it with insurance premium so that if unpaid for over 6 weeks the same to be charged along with premium.
Fixing the time limit for challenging e-challan A 7-10 day time limit window can be fixed. If the e-challan is contested within this time frame, it goes to legal route, else it has to be paid within a certain time frame.