70% of Hyderabad traffic challans unpaid; police seek stricter enforcement

HYDERABAD: Traffic enforcement across Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda has come under scrutiny as the three police commissionerates together have issued nearly one crore traffic challans in 2025, but have collected fines for only about 30% of them. The remaining 70 lakh challans are still pending, causing a significant shortfall in revenue.

E-challans ignored, say police

Officials attribute the widening gap between issued and paid fines to e-challans, which are generated through CCTV surveillance cameras. Many motorists, they said, ignore these notices as there is currently no mechanism to enforce mandatory payment.

“We use CCTV cameras to record violations and issue challans, but there is no system to ensure that the fines are paid. If we want commuters to start following rules, payment of fines must be made mandatory,” said Rahul Hegde, deputy commissioner of Hyderabad traffic police-I (DCP-I).

Repeat offenders and manpower crunch

Police officials revealed that some offenders have pending dues exceeding ₹10,000, with multiple challans against the same vehicle. V Sreenivasulu, deputy commissioner of Rachakonda traffic police-II (DCP-II), said the lack of manpower makes it difficult to act against every violator.
“With the current volume of vehicles, it is impossible to manage traffic and simultaneously stop those with pending challans. We conduct drives mainly against vehicles with over four challans. Sometimes, violators argue with officers and refuse to pay,” he said.

Call for tech upgrade and stricter penalties

Traffic police are now seeking upgraded AI-enabled CCTV systems and tougher penalties to both track violators and compel fine payment.
“If cameras can achieve 100% accuracy with advanced technology, we can track violations better and integrate payment gateways for fines,” said Joel Davis, joint commissioner of Hyderabad traffic police.

Echoing similar concerns, Ghajarao Bhupal, joint commissioner of Cyberabad traffic police, proposed linking challans to vehicle documentation.
“There should be a system to blocklist vehicle number plates if fines remain unpaid. The transport department must also ensure that renewals are denied to vehicles with pending challans,” he said.