Supreme Court orders blocking of vehicle services and licence renewal until e-challan dues are cleared

2 October 2026

In the road safety case S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India, the Supreme Court on 28 September 2026 directed states to use stronger methods to recover unpaid electronic traffic fines.
Renewal of registration certificates, pollution under control certificates and fitness certificates, and transfer of ownership, are to be blocked until the dues are paid.
Vehicles with pending dues are to be blacklisted on the Parivahan portal and may be seized, and driving licence renewal is to be withheld for repeated violations.
About ₹49,194.05 crore in e-challans remains uncollected across the country, while ₹26,175.05 crore has been recovered.
The bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Vishwanathan said issuing thousands of e-challans serves little purpose unless the fines are actually recovered.
The Court also asked that electronic enforcement be made AI-enabled, that VAHAN-4, SARATHI, the e-Challan system, e-DAR, iRAD and traffic control rooms be integrated into a National Road Safety System, and that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways maintain a public dashboard updated every month.