'Rs 2,800 crore worth unrealised e-challans in TN, affects traffic violation penalties'

CHENNAI: Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Shunchonngam Jatak Chiru on Tuesday said that e-challans would lose its efficacy in preventing traffic violations, as the State had Rs 2,800 crore worth of unrealised e-challans.

“Enforcement has become electronic with more e-challans generated. TN has issued Rs 2,800 crore work of e-challans and it remains unrealised. That’s a lot. Every day, our police personnel issue e-challan to violators of traffic rules. If these penalties are not realised, then the public will not care about it, rendering the tool toothless,” he said while addressing a workshop on ‘Tamil Nadu Road Safety Action Plan’ organised by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group here.

Chiru noted that the recovery of challans from commercial and other vehicles checked by the RTOs stands at 43-48%. “Though the Chennai Police has taken a lot of effort by calling the people on the phone, giving them lectures and discounting everything they have done. But still, there are a lot of issues to be addressed here,” he said.

Pointing to the shortcomings in Vahan database, the Commissioner Chiru pointed out that the e-challans were issued via SMS but it was not reaching the respective vehicle owners due to change in ownership, lack of updated mobile number and other issues. “Either they have to put a condition to clear the challans for the transfer of vehicle ownership or drives have to be conducted to collect fines. Private vehicles come to the RTOs 15 years after registration. The centre has sent a draft SOP on how to go about it. We’re examining it,” he stated.

Lauding Kerala’s model of recovering revenue from challans, Chiru said that he intends to visit the neighbouring state to study the system. “The TN government is in the process of establishing a Road Safety Authority and will be releasing a robust action plan for the State in the near future. The government’s efforts on road safety have generated positive effects with a decline in accident fatalities over the last two months,” he elaborated.

Nearly 11 lakh driving licences, including 8 lakh new licenses, were issued so far in 2024-25, but new drivers have to be trained well. “New Delhi has a good system with automated testing track to issue DL. Even my wife, who has been driving a car for a long time, failed a driving test for the licence renewal in Delhi. The machine didn’t lie. She had to read and do the test again. So the focus must be the quality of drivers we have,” he said.