New Delhi, July 24 -- Motorists who fail to clear traffic challans after they become final could soon find themselves unable to access several vehicle and licence-related services, according to draft amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Monday. The draft rules propose that once a challan has attained finality-either because it was not contested within the prescribed period or after adjudication-and remains unpaid, licensing and registering authorities will not process applications relating to the offender's driving licence or the vehicle's registration until the challan is disposed of. The vehicle will also be flagged as "Not to be Transacted" on the portal, while the registered owner or licence holder will receive electronic alerts. The restriction, however, will not apply while a challan is pending before a court or adjudicating authority, and applications relating to vehicle tax will continue to be processed. The proposed amendments are part of a wider overhaul of the digital traffic enforcement framework under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. The Centre has invited objections and suggestions on the draft for 30 days before notifying the final rules. Akhilesh Srivastava, former NHAI official and president of ITS India Forum, welcomed the decision. "We digitised the challan; now we must digitise accountability for citizens and officials alike. Linking RC and licence services to unpaid fines finally gives enforcement teeth, but the Rs.5,000 penalty on tardy adjudicators is the real headline. India has rarely legislated consequences for its own machinery. Having built FASTag's back-end at NHAI, I can say the hard part was never the citizen-facing rules. It's the interoperability between challan portals, court records and vehicle databases. If that plumbing isn't seamless, 'Not to be Transacted' will punish honest motorists caught in system lag, not offenders. Get the architecture right, and this is India's template for outcome-based first real move toward accountable, real-time traffic enforcement." Another significant proposal requires every state government to establish a dedicated adjudication mechanism for traffic penalties within six months of the rules coming into force. States will have to appoint adjudicating authorities for every district or part thereof, create facilities for electronic hearings including video conferencing, and ensure that orders are issued within 30 days of the hearing. Appeals against such orders will lie before an appellate authority of at least the rank of an Additional District Magistrate or equivalent, which must also dispose of appeals within 30 days....