Motorists in Lahore who leave their digital traffic challans unpaid for more than 10 days could face double the original fine and court summons, as the traffic police pursue outstanding payments. Under the existing challan procedure of the Punjab Traffic Police, drivers must clear their fines within 10 days, and after that period the penalty can double. Cases that involve confiscated documents are referred to the relevant court. Authorities have also stationed traffic wardens at courts across the city to assist judicial officials in recovering unpaid fines, which gives the effort a presence at the place where these cases are heard.
Officials cited in media reports said that the combined number of pending digital challans and confiscated documents in Lahore had approached 800,000. This figure reflects the backlog of challans and retained documents and does not represent the total number of vehicles with unpaid camera-generated e-challans, which has been reported separately at a much higher level. Motorists should also note that obtaining replacement documents does not cancel an outstanding challan or the legal proceedings linked to it, so a driver who has replaced a seized licence or registration paper still has to settle the fine.
The latest action follows an earlier crackdown on vehicles with unpaid e-challans, which included repeat offenders with hundreds of outstanding violations. Previous operations involved roadside inspections and the impounding of vehicles, and they targeted motorists with substantial unpaid fines as well as government vehicles. The move to court summons adds a legal step to the enforcement process, and authorities have urged motorists to clear their dues and retrieve their seized documents through the prescribed process, warning that ignoring a court summons could lead to further legal action.
Drivers can review their camera-based traffic fines through the official e-challan portal of the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA), where they can open the portal and check the outstanding challans linked to their vehicle. If the authorities have already sent a driver’s documents to court, the driver must follow the prescribed judicial process to pay the fine and recover them. For motorists in Lahore, the message from the traffic police is that checking the portal early and paying within the 10-day window is the simplest way to avoid doubled fines, court appearances, and the additional expense that comes with them.
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