Supreme Court proposes adding unpaid traffic fines to electricity bills
· India · Hindustan Times, Bar and Bench, Zee News
The Supreme Court suggested linking unpaid traffic challans to electricity bills to recover ₹20,000 crore in pending fines, stating violators must pay or face disconnection. The court made these remarks while hearing a plea on electronic enforcement of traffic violations and recovery of e-challan dues. It was informed that states and Union Territories have to recover around ₹45,000 crore in e-challan fines, with ₹25,000 crore already collected. The Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan discussed other measures like blocking vehicle registration renewal and ownership transfers until fines are cleared. The suggestions came during a long-running public interest litigation on road safety filed in 2012 by Coimbatore-based surgeon S Rajaseekaran. The court emphasized the need for recovery mechanisms rather than merely issuing challans.
Why it matters
Vehicle owners with pending traffic fines may soon face payment linkage to essential services like electricity, potentially increasing compliance. State transport and power departments will need to coordinate systems to enforce the proposed recovery mechanism.
Read the original report — Hindustan Times
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