Jammu : Even as fatal accidents continue to claim hundreds of lives on “killer roads” every year, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a sharp increase in digital traffic enforcement, with authorities issuing 56.61 lakh e-challans to traffic violators since 2021 to July this year.
However, the amount recovered has failed to keep pace, with unpaid traffic fines accumulating to nearly Rs 329.88 crore during the period.
In contrast, Ladakh recorded the lowest number of e-challans in the country during the period, issuing only 598 challans since 2021. The UT issued 478 e-challans in 2021, 12 in 2022, 92 in 2023, none in 2024 and 2025, and 16 till July 2026. Pending fines in Ladakh stood at a negligible Rs 2,500.
The figures were shared by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in the Lok Sabha in reply to a question by Member of Parliament Sanjay Seth.
The official data showed that the use of the e-challan system has grown rapidly over the years. Jammu and Kashmir issued 86,282 e-challans in 2021, which increased to 4.36 lakh in 2022, 12.39 lakh in 2023, 15.44 lakh in 2024 and 15.48 lakh in 2025. By July 30, 2026, another 8.07 lakh e-challans had already been issued, taking the total to 56.61 lakh.
While traffic enforcement has been intensified over these years, the recovery of penalties has remained a major concern. Official records showed unpaid e-challan amounts of Rs 53.29 lakh in 2021, rising sharply to Rs 13.57 crore in 2022, Rs 47.36 crore in 2023, Rs 82.20 crore in 2024, Rs 114.60 crore in 2025, and Rs 71.62 crore up to July 30, 2026, taking the cumulative unpaid amount to Rs 329.88 crore.
To address the growing backlog of unpaid fines, Gadkari said the Centre has notified the Central Motor Vehicles (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026.
The Union Minister said, “To tackle the growing mountain of unpaid fines, the Central Government has introduced the Central Motor Vehicles (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026. Under these new rules, repeat offenders those committing five or more offences in a year starting January 2026 will face disqualification of their driving licenses”.
“The implementation of the e-challan system, including the recovery of penalties for unpaid e-challans, is the responsibility of the respective State Governments and UT Administrations,” Gadkari said.
Despite the expansion of digital enforcement, road safety continues to remain a challenge in Jammu and Kashmir as the expansion of e-challan enforcement has yet to translate into a significant reduction in fatal road accidents, with Jammu and Kashmir recording 1,109 accidents and 206 deaths on National Highways in 2026.
The data showed that the fatalities have increased from 259 in 2022 to 294 in 2023 and 271 in 2024, before reaching 431 in 2025 and declining to 206 in 2026.
However, the number of accidents in Jammu and Kashmir has declined from 2,378 in 2022 to 2,342 in 2023, 2,120 in 2024 and 1,867 in 2025, before falling further to 1,109 in 2026.
In the age-wise fatality data for Jammu and Kashmir, 17 people below the age of 18 were killed in National Highway accidents in 2026, along with 25 aged 18–25 years and 40 aged 25–35 years. A further 29 fatalities were recorded among those aged 35–45 years, 28 among the 45–60 age group and 12 among people aged 60 years and above, while the age of 55 victims was not known.
