How many of us like to stand in long queues for any payment and waiting for our turn? Be it a CESC bill payment, BSNL bill payment or maybe any kind of fine and many more. When we have an online facility today where it takes less than 2-3 minutes to pay all bills, then why do you and I will stand in line?
So, the traffic department is not far behind. If you have to pay a fine for not adhering to any traffic rule, you can easily pay the same online and remain absolutely worry-free. The traffic fine is now better known as an E-Challan which is a sophisticated computer-generated challan used by the Traffic Police and is issued to all the traffic defaulters in India.
The Government of India has implemented this process to make the traffic services convenient, easy, effective monitoring as well as transparent to the general public. Traffic E-Challan is usually sent via android cells application and a web gateway. Traffic eChallan, an app with the application is combined with web portal applications introduced by the Government of India which are namely Vahan and Sarathi. These two applications offer many benefits and features to you which covers all the main aspects of the Administration System. You can pay the traffic e challan both online as well as by visiting the office of traffic police.
What is e-challan?
An e-challan is the digital version of the challan. On the official website of the e-parivahan, one can view the challan check and see the e-challan status that mentions all the traffic violations done by the particular vehicle and the fine that has been charged. If there are no violations, the e-challan will show no challan. The traffic police are equipped with a swiping machine that helps them generate challan instantly. So, with an e challan parivahan system, now one cannot bribe the police or get the challan torn off. It has also increased the transparency of the challan system between the traffic police department and the citizens.
Working of e-challan
The e-challans are generated by the traffic police. The police use the swiping machine to generate e-challans either on the spot of the traffic rule violation or by watching the CCTV footage of the vehicle. In case you breach a traffic rule, the police get to know about it through CCTV footage. It then gathers all the information about the vehicle and the owner. The police immediately generate an e-challan for the traffic rule violation and update the driver about the e challan status via SMS.
H2 Traffic e-Challan Process Flow:
We will take you through the process of how the Traffic E-challan System operates.
Step 1: E-Challan Issuance
The CCTV footage captures all the defaulters. The Enforcement Officer obtain the details of the defaulter with the Registration and the driving license number from Vahan and Sarathi database and chooses the offence or mistake committed.
Step 2: Challan Payment
You will be allowed to pay online by scanning the QR code received or can make cash payment at the RTO office or can deposit cash at the counter.
Step 3: Data Updation
A message will be sent to you as the offender’s registered cell number. The penalty amount is auto calculated as per the offence and the Enforcement Officer then takes a print out of the traffic e-challan with all the necessary details and gives the same to you.
Indian Government’s traffic e-challan system has been executed in 15 states in India for everyone’s suitability and ease. The states are namely West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the changes introduced in the penalties
You must be aware of the fact that the Traffic regulations in India are levied in agreement with the New Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. The updated traffic rulebooks are strict so that all of us follow the traffic rules and do not end up paying the amount unnecessarily. The rules come with a sharp rise in prices with imprisonment for violating the traffic rules.
| Type of Offence | Amount of Penalty (INR) |
| General Offence | 1st Time: 500, 2nd Time: 1500 |
| Driving without a Valid License | 5000 |
| Driving an illegal automobile without License | 5000 |
| Over Speeding of vehicles | For LMV: 1000 to 2000 |
| Medium Passenger or Goods Vehicles: 2000 to 4000 For the 2nd time, confiscation of driving license will happen. | |
| Rash Driving of vehicles | 1st Time: Police Custody for 6 months to 1 year and /or penalty of 1000 to 5000 2nd Time: Police Custody till 2 years and /or penalty up to I 10000 |
| Driving under intoxication | 1st Time: Police Custody up to 6 months and /or penalty of 10000 2nd Time: Imprisonment till 2 years and /or penalty of 15000 |
| Driving without Insurance | 1st Time: Police Custody up to 3 months and /or penalty of 2000 2nd Time: Imprisonment till up to 3 months and /or penalty of 4000 |
| Seat Belt Violation | 1000 |
| Helmet Wearing Violation | 1000 |
| Not giving way to emergency vehicles | Imprisonment for 6 months and /or penalty of 10000 |
| Accident Related Penalties | 1st Time: Imprisonment till up to 6 months and /or penalty of 5000 2nd Time: Imprisonment till up to 1 year and /or penalty of INR 10000 |
Steps to check the status of traffic e-Challan fines online:
Here are the steps which you need to follow for checking the status of traffic e-Challan fines online. The steps to check the status of traffic e-Challan fines online is simple and hassle-free.
- You need to visit the state’s transport department official website
- Click on the section called online traffic challan payment
- After the above-mentioned step, you need to select the category of violation for which the penalty to be paid
- You will have to fill in the e-challan or the vehicle registration number
- The amount of the penalty will be shown on the screen for the vehicle
- You need to capture the exclusive captcha code
- Then you need to choose the payment mode like Debit Card, Credit Card or any e-wallet like PayTM and then proceed with the payment accordingly
- Once the payment is done, you will get a message which confirms the online traffic challan payment
Steps on how to pay the online traffic challan using different modes: Online & Offline
You can pay the online traffic challan at any point in time. However, it is better to pay as soon as possible so as to stay compliant with the traffic laws. So here are some simple steps for you to follow.
- Offline Process: The offline process is that you can pay the traffic e-challan at any traffic nearest traffic police station in the residing city. You need to carry the traffic violation letter if you have received any such letter.Alternatively, you can also place a request to the Traffic Police Officer to have a check on the earlier dues, if any, and pay all the penalties together. All the necessary details are kept on the device which is by the officers in the traffic department and they are in a position to track the details of the earlier dues. It is not prudent enough to keep pending the traffic violation penalties under any circumstances and you must pay the same immediately to have a hassle-free driving in future.
- Online Process: The online process happens within just a few clicks which are very user-friendly and easy to follow. So here goes the steps:
- Visit the official site of the transport website
To cite an example- West Bengal Transport has the official website https://transport.wb.gov.in/ where the charges can be paid - Then you need to choose the option of paying violation fines for the appropriate offence like charges for parking, not wearing a helmet, fines at the spot and many others
- Then, you need to select the suitable link and then fill in the required details accordingly
- Then you need to provide the new and old vehicle registration number or the parking violation label number etc. if this information is known to you
- Then you need to enter the details and the present the unsettled amount and proceed with the payment with your Mastercard or Visa Card and click “submit”
- Then, you need to make the payment through a secured gateway
- Visit the official site of the transport website
What happens if you don’t pay the traffic e challan?
It might happen that you completely forgot to pay the traffic fine. So, what happens next? Let us see here. The traffic rules and the entire rule book are very stringent nowadays. There are legal consequences for not paying the traffic e challan or the penalty within the timeline.
If you do not pay because of some reason, a summon will be sent to your residential address as the license holder from the court where you will be called upon and asked to give an explanation in front of the judge upon infringement of the traffic rules.
Cases, where you do not visit even after you, are called by the court legally and pay the traffic e- challan then your driving licence stands suspended. Hence, not paying the traffic e challan is not an option by any means. Remember to pay the same immediately so that you don’t forget and avoid all the legal hassles.
How to avoid getting a traffic e challan?
Basically, if you follow the traffic rules and regulations, you will not be issuing any traffic e challan and as the saying goes “prevention is always better than cure”. Let us avoid breaking the traffic rules in the first place itself so that the question of paying a fine does not arise.
There are certain thumb rules which if you follow you can easily avoid paying for the traffic e challan. Below are those:
- Rule Number 1: Alwaysbe punctual, which essentially means to start on or before time to avoid peak hours so that you can avoid the peak traffic and the obvious strain and anxiety
- Rule Number 2: Following all traffic rules mandatorily. In reality, it might be difficult at times to follow the rules and hence at all times it is much better and healthier to be safe and sound than being sorry later
- Rule Number 3: All vital documents and relevant papers like the vehicle’s RC, car insurance papers, PUC needs to be kept up to date by you in the vehicle, because at any point of time there might be a routine check as well done by the traffic police
- Rule Number 4: Last but not the least is to you must follow all the 3 rules as mentioned and explained above without fail
We never like to see ourselves as a defaulter in any aspects of our life and hence the same goes with paying a traffic e challan as well. So, first is to follow the traffic rules. And, if at all, you have to pay the traffic fine, pay the same within time and drive hassle-free.
FAQ’s
No. After a challan is issued, the same cannot be cancelled.
Yes, you will be fined for not wearing a helmet both for yourself and your spouse as it is a traffic violation and will attract a penalty imposed by the traffic police.
You will be asked to pay the e-challan within 60 days from challan issuance date and any non-payment of the traffic e-challan by you will furthermore legal consequences as mentioned above.
Traffic Police officers of and above the designation of the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police are authorized to collect the fine on the spot from the defaulters and with a receipt book.
Yes. They can. Except for the driver, other co-passengers of the vehicle are allowed to use a cell phone
No, you can’t. There is no exemption given to anyone as per the law. As a solution, you can always stop your vehicle and then attend the call.
Yes, there are. If a driver is being caught driving a motor vehicle with alcohol in his or her blood which is more than 30 mg per 100 ml or he or she is under the influence of a drug to an extent that he or she is unable to have proper control over his vehicle, the below are the punishments which will be imposed.
First Offence: Imprisonment till 6 months or fine up to INR 2000 or both 2nd-time Offence: Imprisonment till 2 years or fine up to INR 3000 or both
