UP has the highest number of traffic violations caught on e-challan: Centre

The Parliament was informed on Wednesday that Uttar Pradesh holds the distinction of having the highest number of traffic violations caught through the e-challan system in the country. Uttar Pradesh has also amassed the largest pool of unrecovered penalties nationwide. The state issued 20% of all e-challans across the nation, with Delhi contributing an additional 10% when their figures are combined. Together, these two states account for more than half of the unpaid traffic fines across all states.

From 2021 to July 30, 2026, Uttar Pradesh issued a staggering 78.9 million e-challans, followed by Tamil Nadu with 63.7 million and Delhi with 47.1 million. Kerala came in fourth place with 45.8 million e-challans, while Gujarat, ranking fifth, issued 19.9 million. Among all states, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are the only ones to have unpaid dues exceeding ₹100,000 crore, amounting to ₹11,331.5 crore and ₹11,076.1 crore respectively.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, hilly regions and island territories displayed the least enforcement activity. Ladakh, the least active region, issued only 598 challans since 2021. The list of states with the lowest number of e-challans mirrors this trend, with Ladakh having the lowest unpaid fines at just ₹2,500, followed by Nagaland (₹53 lakh), Arunachal Pradesh (₹54 lakh), Sikkim (₹1.46 crore), and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (₹1.99 crore).

The Central Motor Vehicles (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, introduced by the Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, aims to tackle the growing issue of unpaid fines. These new rules stipulate that repeat offenders, committing five or more offenses in a year starting from January 2026, will have their driving licenses disqualified.

The government is also leveraging the digital link between the e-challan system and vehicle records, preventing owners from processing any vehicle or license-related transactions until their pending e-challans are settled.