[RM Motorsports]

With about Rs. 2400 cr outstanding e-challan amount, Maharashtra state Govt. wants to link e-challan with bank accounts to recover the dues.

[saket77]

Can the State/ Central Govt. or even the banks unilaterally link the bank accounts of vehicle owners to their vehicle's e-Challan account (if there is one such account in first place)? I would be very wary of banking systems if that is done.

[It's Magic]

Originally Posted by saket77

Can the State/ Central Govt. or even the banks unilaterally link the bank accounts of vehicle owners to their vehicle's e-Challan account

I don't think they would unilaterally link your bank account with an e-challan, but in my opinion, it would work on lines similar to Fastag. You would have to link your car registration number with your wallet or bank account with the required standing instructions. So, in the case of a challan, the government can debit the fine from your bank account (similar to the manual entry done at a toll plaza where the amount gets deducted from your account). In case of an incorrect challan, you would have to raise a grievance similar to the current system, and if approved, your deducted amount can be credited back to your account.

Ofcourse, this is just my assumption of how the system would work.

[anjan_c2007]

I think some lawyer could file a W.P. in the High Court to stay the proposal of linking e-challans with bank accounts of defaulters which is against the Constituion and also defies the tenets of natural justice. Rather than the Maharashtra government wanting or thinking to do so, they need to issue a G.R. to link the two. Thereafter, they will be caught on the wrong foot.

There are hundreds of civil methods for recovery of their pending and unrealised Rs 2,429 crores dues. It is also surprising as to why the Comptoller and Auditor General of India allowed the dues to accumalate and reach such high amounts since 2019, without serious audit objections and paras, reprimanding the State Government.

[avira_tk]

This is what kerala was demanding, I'm not going to bother with the details but this is the kind of thing that gets you a social credit score. Our commie dictatorship to the north already does it, surely you don't think our overlords are scheming to bring this about do you?

The combination of surveillance and corruption is going to make life hell, speed cameras were used to get soften resistance to surveillance. Now it's just a revenue stream, digital payments ensure you have no control over this racket.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by saket77

Can the State/ Central Govt. or even the banks unilaterally link the bank accounts of vehicle owners to their vehicle's e-Challan account (if there is one such account in first place)? I would be very wary of banking systems if that is done.

Bank accounts are not linked to your car but Fastag is. So technically it is possible to deduct the challan from your Fastag wallet which has the option to go into negative balance as well.

Which ever the case, it cannot be de-centralized. The system will need to be automated and centralized across India as all the payment systems are controlled by RBI. Out of state vehicles can also get a challan. There will have to be proper systems in place for queries and grievance resolution.

[pkk077]

Absolutely ridiculous. Most roads in India already have very low speed limits. And in cities, it's not possible to drive even at those speeds most of the time because of broken roads, congestion, water-logging, slow moving vehicles and even non-motorized vehicles plying on the same roads. Before you penalize drivers for going fast, first provide good roads and setup appropriate speed limits else this is going the same way as our tax system. You are supposed to pay in time without expecting anything in return. I am all for taxes or even speed challans but when would the govt. hold up their end of the bargain? And if they don't, it's plain and simple dictatorship.

[Vikash Kumawat]

Another way to make money from general public. What in case of a false chalan, I have seen an e-chalan of a car driver not wearing helmet while driving the car. Another way to torture the public. Govt is not going to refund the chalan money in case of any false chalan. First improve the camera and traffic police system then apply this rule. Until or unless police officers not going to stop getting 'Rishwat' the traffic is not going to be better.

[aadi2700]

This auto deduction of challan amount would open a few other issues? What if I have a challan and want to settle the matter in Virtual court, don’t think the system would be so intuitive that Govt will seamlessly ensure refund of our money + rather at best a new set of middlemen would emerge to “facilitate” the whole show.

[AutoGalaxy]

It would be a complicated system for the general, law-abiding population I feel.

Scenarios such as wrong challans based on Camera systems is already very high. Imagine not tracking your bank account regularly, only to realise such deduction and then fighting to get your money refunded from the Govt after a few months for a wrong Challan.

Such a system also places a very risk during Vehicle transfers if your bank account / wallet doesn't get delinked properly.

Unless the Govt can ensure Number plates are not tampered (HSRP is solving this issue only to an extent, In Blr it is common to see number plates with taped digits ), it wont become effective.

[ValarMorghulis]

Not siding with either side of this system, but isn't this going to be the future? A la Black Mirror style?

China already does it...

[DrSourabh]

Had 2 similar scenarios in past 2 years

I got an incorrect challan with a photograph of another car (Reg No 4644) in my RC (Reg No 4664). Some cop was lazy to cross check the same and now i am writing email to police department, MVD, echallan.gov, parivahan and following up for last 2 months. One police officer even had the audacity to say ‘Just pay it off sir, it is a tedious process to rectify once fined’.

Now this is not one odd incident. I myself had similar incident with my mom’s car 2 years ago in which the alphabet of registration got changed from T to G in the echallan. Luckily it got rectified and the original owner payed the fine.

Now imagine if such a system comes into effect in this country. There is zero probability to get your money back incase of incorrect challan

[highway_cruiser]

The government (either state or central) already has powers to recover the outstanding amount as revenue dues which involve attachemnt of bank account for the dues only but not on permamnent basis.
Once a Court of Law order it to be a revenue dues then transport authorities can proceed for bank attachment.

[gopa99]

If government ( state or central) can levy tolls at toll plazas why can’t they integrate the challans as well? Someone can argue that if a car never uses the tolls it can keep escaping the fine, but in a perfect world that is a better situation to have than what we have now!

[Rajat347]

it seems e challans work only for 4 wheelers.
Two wheeler riders in Pune at least in PCMC area, proudly flunk traffic signals, no helmets and ride in the opposite directions.