E-Challan System is Improving Traffic Law Enforcement in India

Posted on: Jul 19, 2022 | | Written by:

E-Challan System is Improving Traffic Law Enforcement in India

E-challan System for Traffic Law Enforcement

Enforcement of traffic laws has always been problematic in India, due to poor driving ethics, corruption and other factors. Over the years, the government has tried multiple ways to improve the situation, but things never really changed. One key reason why these attempts simply did not work is because they were never backed by the appropriate technology. The fact that all such attempts were people-driven and not technology-driven meant that there was room for bias and inaccuracy. However, today, things are looking up, thanks to the recently launched E-Challan system. This will not only ensure safer driving, but also help keep your car insurance premiums low! That is because, if you don’t need to file claims frequently, the insurance company will not deem you risky or increase your premium. Now, read on to know more about the E-Challan system.

Introduction to trafficchallan system in India

With the introduction of smart mobile devices and the advent of high-speed mobile data connectivity, India has started to benefit from the E-Challan system.

What is the basic concept behind challan?If you are caught breaking the rules of traffic, thus creating potential risk for everyone around you along with yourself, you must pay for that errant behaviour. Basically, you need to pay an appropriate fine. Let’s consider the instance of driving without car insurance to understand this better.

Car insurance, especially the third-party kind, is mandatory,so that if you accidentally injure another person or their property while driving, they can receive adequate compensation. Which is why, if you are caught driving without insurance, the traffic police have the right to serve you a challan.

Now, the traditional approach to challans has been something like this. If a police officer caught you breaking a rule, they would issue an on-the-spot challan. You would then get two options.If you had the cash to pay, you had to pay them the challan amount right then and there. If you didn’t have the cash on hand, the challan would be issued with a date and time as well as courthouse details, where you would need to present yourself before a magistrate and explain yourself.

But this presented the government with an obvious problem – if the police office issuing you the challan was unscrupulous, they would take a bribe and not issue a challan. Since there was not much of a recorded photo evidence, this situation created two problems.First,there was no real consequence for the law breaker.Second, it led to loss of potential revenue for the state.

The working of E-Challans

The new E-Challan system is supposed to work in two different ways. The first is a completely automated system. This can be used for detection of cases like over speeding, dangerous driving, jumping traffic signals etc. Speed cameras have been and are being installed at locations where people have been known to be involved in over speeding or jumping red lights. The camera will be connected to a smart system which will identify number plate of the vehicle and identify the registration. The same will be mapped to the RTO database and an online challan notification will be generated and sent to the vehicle owner with all the details.

The second involves the manual issuing of challan. In this system, the police officer on duty will issue you a challan, but instead of the manual challan book, the same will be done on a handheld device. You will receive the challan notification on your phone.

The biggest change with the system is that instead of having to pay the challan then and there, you will be given a link where you can make an online payment for the challan. By taking the money part out of the spot enforcement team, the government has eliminated the scope of bribery considerably.

Upon receiving the challan, you can either pay it online or you can file an appeal. In case of an appeal, you will need to click the link for appeal and then you will be given a date and time as well as courthouse details where you can present your case to the magistrate.

The advantage of E-Challans

There are quite a few advantages, as listed below:

• First, it is expected to bring about a lot of transparency in the challan process. The risk of fake challans will be eliminated to a considerable extent.

• Second, this will create a situation where enforcement will also become more widespread. It is not possible to have traffic police everywhere, but it is very much possible to have traffic cameras everywhere.

• Third, it will reduce the possibility of bribery in challan issuance and processes to a large extent.

• Fourth, it will reduce load on courts by reducing the number of court specific challans.

• Fifth, it will increase traffic challan revenue collection for the government.

• Sixth, it will help reduce car insurance premiums in the long run by improving road discipline.

All in all, the E-Challan system is expected to benefit drivers, the traffic law enforcement system as well as the government. By incorporating technology, the traditional and problematic challan system has received a complete overhaul.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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