The National Highway Authority, the National Highways and Motorway Police, and Zindigi by JS Bank have jointly launched a Raast QR-based payment system for motorway traffic e-challans, enabling motorists to settle speeding fines instantly through any banking application without the need for cash. The initiative has been introduced on a pilot basis supporting the State Bank of Pakistan and the Prime Minister’s Cashless Pakistan vision for a digitally empowered economy, with the digital payment facility currently active on three corridors: the M1 Motorway connecting Islamabad and Peshawar, the M2 Motorway connecting Islamabad and Lahore, and the Islamabad-Murree Expressway.
Under the new system, speeding fines issued on these designated motorway routes carry a Raast QR code that motorists can scan using their preferred mobile banking application to complete payment immediately. The process eliminates the need for cash handling at enforcement points and removes the friction of manual payment collection that has historically made challan settlement inconvenient for motorists and administratively burdensome for highway police. By anchoring the system on Raast, the State Bank of Pakistan’s instant payment infrastructure, the settlement is processed in real time across any bank account linked to a mobile banking app, regardless of which financial institution the motorist uses.
The initiative directly advances the government’s broader Cashless Pakistan agenda, which has been building institutional momentum across multiple public sector payment use cases. Raast QR has been progressively deployed across government-to-person payments, merchant transactions, and utility bill settlement in recent months, with the motorway e-challan pilot representing its first major application in traffic enforcement. The combination of NHA’s infrastructure, the National Highways and Motorway Police’s enforcement mandate, and Zindigi’s fintech capabilities has created a practical and scalable digital payment solution that removes one of the most common remaining friction points in Pakistan’s motorway ecosystem.
Authorities have indicated that the system’s performance will be assessed during the pilot phase on the three initial corridors before any decision is made to expand the Raast QR payment option to additional motorway and highway routes across the country. Motorists using the M1, M2, and Islamabad-Murree Expressway are encouraged to use the QR payment option when settling e-challans, contributing to both the cashless payment transition and the data needed to evaluate the system for wider deployment. The pilot builds on the government’s recently announced plans for cashless toll collection on major motorways, signalling a direction in which Pakistan’s highway network is progressively moving toward a fully digital financial interaction model across both toll and enforcement payment touchpoints.
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