E-Challans Helps Regulate MV Act Effectively

A challan is a piece of paper or citation, used majorly in India for crediting money to a bank account through after following a legal procedure stated by the government. The electronic form of challan, also called e-challan, is an automated system helping the traffic and the transport departments in different cities of the country effectively enforce the rules and regulations laid down in the Motor Vehicle Act. E-challans are processed using handheld tabs and is a very good means to catch not only first-time violators of traffic rules but also repeat offenders.

The e-challan devices are synced with a central database that helps identify repeat offenders. As per the Motor Vehicle Act when the law is broken on a recurring basis the offender is required to be charged higher penalty. For example, the fine for jumping a red light the first time is Rs. 990. However the second time the offender is required to be charged Rs. 2070/-. The limitations of manual generation of challan could never help the traffic department to enforce this regulation of the Act.

While payments against the e-challan can be done online at the respective state government’s website, the same can be done using the site or App of third-party resellers like Paytm or MobiKwik. The good part of being able to pay online is that the person can use his credit and debit card or Net banking for payment and even if he is running short of cash, there is no cause of worry. The payment is processed promptly and swiftly and even the confirmation of the payment is received immediately.  This is a boon, both for the offender and the traffic police. The offender can now no longer give lame excuses for being short of cash and the traffic police can never indulge in corrupt activities.

Some of the advantages of the e-challan system are: –

1. It makes the work of the traffic department easier. A challan is issued and uploaded on the official website. Since everything is online, it is easy to keep track of challans issues, payments received and pending etc. with minimal manual work required.
2. Since the official website of all states carries the fine charges against each type of violation, the chances of overcharging are reduced thereby helping eliminate corruption from the system.
3. Once your vehicle number or the registration number is registered with the website you can keep checking online if any challan has been issued against your number or not. Since these are e-challans, they will not be sent home to your address or handed over to you manually by a traffic police personnel. All cases of pending payments against an offender will show up immediately on entering the license number or the vehicle number or the registration number at the website. This will help people avoid paying the further penalty because they can settle the dues within the specified period.

All in all, the e-challan system likely will usher in a transparent and honest traffic system in the country.