Nagpur: With nearly ₹347 crore in traffic challans pending for recovery in Nagpur city, the Supreme Court’s suggestion to explore linking unpaid traffic fines with electricity bills has drawn attention from the city traffic police.

Traffic police officials have welcomed the idea, saying that linking outstanding challans with a recurring essential utility bill could encourage vehicle owners to clear their dues. However, officials said such a mechanism cannot be introduced by the traffic department independently and would require a decision and implementation framework from the Maharashtra government.

The Supreme Court on Monday suggested exploring the possibility of adding unpaid traffic challan amounts to electricity bills while hearing a road-safety matter. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan observed that merely issuing e-challans would serve little purpose if the penalties were ultimately not recovered.

The issue assumes significance in Nagpur, where around ₹347 crore in traffic fines remains pending for recovery. Despite the widespread use of e-challans, a significant number of motorists continue to leave penalties unpaid, particularly when there is no immediate requirement to settle them.

At the national level, figures placed before the Supreme Court showed that authorities had generated e-challans involving around ₹45,000 crore, of which approximately ₹25,000 crore had been recovered, leaving nearly ₹20,000 crore outstanding.

Nagpur traffic police have been pursuing recovery through existing mechanisms. Officials believe that linking outstanding challans to electricity bills could create an additional incentive for defaulters to pay, given the recurring nature of utility payments.

However, the proposal remains at the suggestion stage, and any decision on introducing such a system in Nagpur would rest with the state government.