242 challans, ₹35.43 lakh in unpaid fines: Gurugram police seize dumper during Delhi-Jaipur Expressway check

A routine traffic check on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway in Gurugram has uncovered 242 unpaid challans worth ₹35.43 lakh against a single dumper truck, prompting police to impound the vehicle, Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.

Officials said this was the highest number of pending challans and the highest cumulative fine detected during vehicle checks in Gurugram so far.

The challans had been pending for the last three years and covered various traffic violations, including overloading, no-entry violations, speeding, red-light jumping and driving without a number plate.

Traffic police officials said the pending challans were issued by the law traffic police and transport departments in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The truck, bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration number, was stopped for checking by assistant sub-inspector Prashant, the traffic zonal officer at Bilaspur Chowk on Tuesday.

Traffic inspector Lokesh, station house officer (traffic first), who has jurisdiction over the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) from Kherki Daula toll plaza to Kapriwas, said a scrutiny of the pending fines showed that most of the 242 challans were for overloading and had been issued by the Rajasthan regional transport office.

“Multiple fines amounting to ₹20000, 21100 and ₹14000 were imposed for overloading against the truck in Rajasthan in the last three years. All of them were pending for payment,” he told Hindustan Times.

The truck also had fines for violations of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, in Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Nuh and Mahendragarh in Haryana; Haldwani in Uttarakhand; and Moradabad and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

Lokesh said the truck is registered in the name of a construction firm based in Uttar Pradesh.

“It will now be released only on court order after the owner pays the fine,” he said.

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Special enforcement drive in Gurugram

The seizure comes amid a special enforcement drive by Gurugram traffic police against vehicles carrying large amounts of unpaid traffic fines.

On September 30, Gurugram traffic police impounded a motorcycle in Udyog Vihar after finding 126 pending challans worth ₹10.30 lakh against it. Most of the violations involved riding without a helmet, not having a valid pollution-under-control (PUC) certificate and not having a number plate.

In another case on August 3, traffic police impounded a Thar after finding black film on its windows, a missing high-security registration plate and six pending challans worth ₹89,000. The vehicle was stopped near Sirhaul toll plaza during a routine vehicle checking drive, police said.

The traffic police are conducting special enforcement drives against motorists who repeatedly violate traffic rules and fail to clear their outstanding fines. According to an estimate, the pending fines in Gurugram amount to at least ₹100 crore.

At least 10,000 vehicles have been impounded in the last year so that the hefty pending fines against them could be realised in accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, officials said.