As many as 38 lakh challans involving a total amount of Rs 577.5 crore have been issued since the implementation of the new motor vehicles law, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, 21 November.
However, in a reply to the Lok Sabha, Gadkari said the "challans are being referred to courts. Actual revenue is not available".
"As per information available in the database of NIC (Vahan, Sarathi), 38,39,406 traffic challans in 18 states and union territories were issued," according to the reply.
The data is available for Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana.
Tamil Nadu saw the highest number of challans at 14,13,996, While the least number of challans were recorded in Goa at 58.
The government recently said it has no information about any state not implementing the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.
However, some states have reduced penalties in accordance with the powers granted to them under the Act.
The Act with stricter provisions and higher amount came into force in the country from 1 September.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)