Paperless penalties: Pay all traffic fines on Sanjog portal
Times of India | 7 May 2025
Kolkata: Cracking down on mounting traffic violations and unpaid challans, the state govt has announced the mandatory adoption of a unified e-challan system by all law enforcement and transport agencies through the ‘Sanjog' portal. It is a centralised digital platform developed by the Bengal transport department in collaboration with the IT&E department.The decision, stemming from resolutions taken in a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary, aims at streamlining vehicular regulation, enforcing better compliance, and reducing revenue leakage by making challan payment and tracking completely paperless.You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in KolkataThe order, issued by transport secretary Saumitra Mohan, emphasises the urgent need for electronic oversight mechanisms where both registering and licensing authorities can instantly view pending challans, and citizens can pay them online through the GRIPS payment gateway without physically visiting enforcement offices. The system is designed to ensure the fine amount is directly credited to the state exchequer under the appropriate head of account.Effective immediately, the state declared that no auto emission testing centre shall issue pollution certificates to vehicles with unresolved challans, and no certificate of fitness will be granted until pending cases are either cleared or forwarded to the relevant court. Importantly, once a challan is booked, the vehicle owner can pay fines anytime online unless the case is already submitted to court by the enforcement officer, who is mandated to reflect the case details in the Sanjog portal.The integration with the Vahan and Sarathi portals ensures that any pending fines trigger a pop-up alert when a vehicle or licence-related transaction is initiated — both online and over-the-counter — providing real-time visibility of dues to the authorities and citizens. The state has provided a six-month grace window for registering authorities to proceed with applications despite outstanding dues, but applicants must be notified of unpaid challans once this period lapses.