Traffic fines ‘clearance sale’ attracts thousands to Lok Adalats in capital

New Delhi: There was a congestion of vehicles on Saturday — not on the roads, but at the district courts. Vehicle owners and drivers clutching challan slips lined up at the Lok Adalats, not to fight penalties but to get them slashed.
At the Patiala House Courts, the crowd waited anxiously for the judge to arrive. Among them was Munna, a 42-year-old taxi driver, who had fines of around 7,000 pending for speeding and improper parking. Instead of paying the amount online, he was there for a steep discount. “Aaj toh saste mein nipat jayega (Today, I can get off lightly),” he said. By afternoon, his fines were reduced to 500 — a massive discount of 92%.
Every few months, Delhi’s Lok Adalats turn into traffic ‘clearance sales’, where thousands of road rule violators pay fines they have deliberately withheld, knowing that waiting will get them a better deal. “I have 90 bookings and I am paying the fines off slowly,” Munna admitted. “Half the time, I don’t even know where the speed cameras are. Awareness is a problem, but let’s be honest — why would I pay in full when the Lok Adalat is more lenient?”
The ‘wait-for-Lok-Adalat’ mindset was evident on the ground. But it raised a question: Does the special facility fuel the city’s massive backlog of unpaid fines? Outside the Saket Courts, Swadesh, 29, a private company employee, had six fines to pay but never considered going online. “Why would I? It’s always cheaper here,” he said. Ram Krishan echoed him, “Online pagal thodi hai koi bharega? Lok Adalat ka wait karna best hai, aadha toh vaise hi maaf ho jaata hai (Paying online is foolishness when the Lok Adalat slashes the fine by at least half).”

Not surprisingly, autorickshaw driver Suresh Yadav, who was with fellow autowala Pradeep Yadav, each holding over 25 challans, said, “We can’t pay 20,000–30,000 at one go. The Lok Adalat is our only solution.” Some argued about their fines. Mangal, who drives a three-wheel cargo vehicle, said, “Most people violate the road rules, but drivers like us bear the brunt more than private car owners.”
Besides those who strategically delayed payments, there were some hadn’t realised they had been booked. Auto driver Surender Kumar at the Rouse Avenue Court said, “I had no idea a fine was pending until someone checked for me. If I had received a WhatsApp notification instead of an SMS, I might have paid earlier.” Jagdish Jha too said, “SMS notifications don’t work. Nobody checks them. Why not send alerts through social media?”
The Lok Adalat is also thronged by used-car dealers. Gurbinder Singh, one such dealer, explained, “People don’t bother checking challans before selling their vehicles. We have to clear all pending fines to enable transfer of ownership. But why pay full fine? Lok Adalat is our go-to.”
Ajay Chaudhry, special commissioner of police (Traffic), said, “Yes, the backlog is huge and people waiting for the Lok Adalat escalates this. So, we are working to increase the frequency of Lok Adalat or, if possible, have a separate traffic court in each court complex. At present, evening courts are also running to clear the backlog from before 2021. Repeated commercial vehicle offenders shouldn’t be treated with leniency because this leniency is sometimes misused.”
In just the last four years, around 83.9% of the three crore traffic bookings, or around 2.5 crore of them, are in limbo. The figure rises when the earlier backlog is taken into account. Pendency of combined on-the-spot challans and camera notices has increased, with 2024 being the worst when for every 10 bookings, barely one was settled.
Pending notices can be verified at https://traffic.delhipolice.gov.in/notice/pay-notice/. Red light jumping and speeding are digitally recorded, with online payment limited to the latter. For red light violations, one can only raise a grievance and after a fortnight, the case automatically transfers to the virtual court.
In instances of on-site penalties on the road, people often decline to pay for lack of funds, preferring to either settle through online channels or seek resolution via the Lok Adalat. An SMS is sent for any violation and fine. But many at the Lok Adalats said on Saturday, “Sometimes the SMS notice comes, sometimes it doesn’t.”
One driver also said, “The problem is not about paying the challan. The payment link never opens. It keeps redirecting but does not open. Hence, after two or three attempts, people give up on online payment.”
Until Delhi fixes the system, waiting renders breaking the rules not just easy but also cheaper.