Penalty not accrued on issuance of challan! A mere 17.8% currency settlement, a major blow to the exchequer

Lack of implementation at the state level and institutional constraints have had a profound impact on government earnings from the currency. Only 17.8% of currencies were settled in the first 10 months of 2026, while over 53.3% were settled in the same period of 2022. At the same time, currency revenue has also declined to 16.7 percent from 51.5 percent four years ago. An industry expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in an ET report that implementation has been weak due to system inefficiency or political pressure. This has led to the neglect of safety related aspects, resulting in the number of road accidents and deaths as well as pollution levels increasing every year.

Invoices and revenue figures in 10 months

According to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, of the 90.4 million challans issued during the January-October period, only 16.1 million challans could be settled, while 74.2 million challans are still pending. During this period a total of Rs. 16,903.93 crore was levied as fine, of which the authorities only collected Rs. 2,824.38 crores were recovered, while Rs. 14,079.55 crore is still outstanding. A government official believes that the reason for the decline in the settlement rate of traffic challans is the large number of e-challans being issued through the automated system. At the same time, the capacity of the traffic police, transport department and courts have failed to keep pace with the increasing number of violations.

How much currency in 11 years

ET’s report further stated that there is a major organizational hurdle in this. As there is no strict punishment for not paying the challan, motorists feel that they can get away without paying the fine. In the first 10 months of 2026, of the 14.3 million cases referred to the courts, only 800,000 (or 2.9 percent) were resolved, with 13.4 million cases still pending. Statistics show that since 2015, enforcement agencies have issued 495.7 million e-challans, totaling Rs. 76,686.2 crores. However, 305.4 million fines are yet to be paid, taking the total outstanding amount to Rs 50,226.1 crore. This figure becomes even more important when the Supreme Court on September 28 directed states and Union Territories to take strict action against motorists who do not pay traffic fines.

The Supreme Court gave a strict instruction

The number of challans issued in October remained the same as the previous month at 8.3 million, while 800,000 cases were resolved last month compared to 1 million cases in September. The Supreme Court directed the authorities to shut down online services related to vehicles on which challan is outstanding. This includes renewal of registration, issuance of duplicate registration certificate and fitness certificate. The court also directed the authorities to blacklist such vehicles on the ‘transport portal’, prevent transfer of their ownership and not issue ‘Pollution Under Control’ (PUC) certificates until outstanding traffic fines are paid. In cases where more than one rule has been breached, the renewal of the driver’s license should be suspended, and steps should be taken to suspend any licenses still in force.