The Maharashtra government has requested approval from the central government to link e-challans with motorists’ bank accounts. This initiative aims to automate fine recovery directly from offenders’ bank accounts to address the issue of unpaid traffic penalties, which currently total Rs 2,429 crore. Introduced in January 2019, e-challans were designed to streamline penalizing traffic violators through electronic systems, identifying over 7.53 million motorists for various offenses like speeding, lane-cutting, and signal jumping.
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Due to slow fine recovery, with only Rs 1,339 crore collected out of Rs 3,768 crore issued, the Maharashtra government seeks to link e-challans to bank accounts used for FASTag and motor insurance payments. This connection would enable automatic deduction of fines whenever motorists top up their FASTag or pay for vehicle insurance, significantly improving fine collection efficiency.