SC orders random checking, seizing vehicles if e-challan unpaid as outstanding traffic fines add up to ₹49,194.05 crore

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.

While some of us do get caught for traffic offences and end up paying fines ranging from ₹100 to ₹10,000 (drunk driving in Karnataka), but who knew that the amount of unpaid fines across India adds up to ₹49,194.05 crore.

For context, the estimated cost of Phase 1 of the Ganga Expressway, spanning 594 km, was ₹36,230 crore. The Ganga Expressway is a six-lane greenfield highway in Uttar Pradesh that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29, 2026. It connects Bijoli village in Meerut to Judapur Dandu village near Prayagraj. Major portions of the highway were funded by debt.

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. Such a huge amount cannot be ignored. Traffic police will have to find ways to collect this money.

What Supreme Court stated

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.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan directed that vehicles with unpaid e-challans be blacklisted on the central Parivahan portal, effectively preventing their sale or transfer until the dues are cleared. In cases involving multiple traffic violations, authorities have also been directed to withhold driving licence renewals and take steps to suspend existing licences. 

“What we want to convey in simple words is that the authorities need to work at the ground level, having regard to the ground realities... We also direct that let there be random checking of vehicles, and if it is found that the e-challan issued has not been abided or honoured, necessary steps shall be taken to impound the vehicle itself,” the bench said, in its September 28 order made public on October 1.