No more hassle of getting stuck on the road. Often we get caught in a traffic jam or in a rush, we violate traffic rules – sometimes we jump the red light, drive wrong side, over speed, bikers do not wear a helmet or ignore sign boards, honk in a no-honking area, park at a no-parking zone, driving without license, drive a vehicle without registration, not carry a valid insurance or not being able to produce a pollution under control certificate etc. are all the maximum possible situation as acts of offence under Motor Vehicles Act. Under such circumstances, the traffic police will issue a challan against your vehicle number or drivers’ license number against which you are required to pay fine or penalty. For example, if you are caught driving recklessly or dangerously you will be fined Rs. 500/-. The traffic policeman usually has a manual challan book or an e-challan machine to generate the challan.
As per the Indian law, you are then required to immediately pay spot fine to the traffic person. Many times, however, we are not carrying enough cash in our pocket to pay the fine there and then. Before the onset of digital payment, there were not many options people had in such situations. One could call a friend or family member, take a loan and pay the penalty because what happens in the event you are not being able to pay the fine is that the traffic police personnel will take away your driving license and in order to collect it you would need to make several rounds of the local traffic circle. Things have changed drastically now. You can now immediately get online and process payment against the e-challan impromptu, on the spot.
This comes as a relief to hundreds and scores of people who are fined every day for breach of traffic rules. A report suggests in 2017, about 714 defaulters were prosecuted by the Delhi Traffic Police every hour. This number was twice the number of people who were indicted the year before. So, e-challan payments are convenient and faster. As people have the option of paying through their credit cards, debit cards, Net banking as well as electronic wallets, there is no issue even if one is short of cash. In fact, e-challans are an effective application of the Digital India movement. Since the transaction is done and completed in a matter of seconds and minutes, you do not have to keep the traffic police person waiting for too long. You can show them the confirmation of the payment as soon as you receive a message on your mobile or confirmation email on your email id. The other facility is that payments against e-challans are available through twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week since it does not require any manual interference. And remember any kind of online transaction from a retailer website or App like Paytm or MobiKwik enables you to get attractive discounts, deals and cashback offers each time you make an online payment.