PATNA, May 10 -- More than 20,000 pending traffic e-challans were disposed of across Bihar on Saturday during the National Lok Adalat held under the state government's One-Time Traffic Challan Settlement Scheme-2026, generating an estimated revenue of around Rs.5 crore for the state exchequer, officials said. Patna alone accounted for nearly 10,000 challans settled during the special drive, reflecting a massive public response to the initiative, which was organised for the first time in Bihar to settle traffic violation cases through a Lok Adalat mechanism. The National Lok Adalat, originally scheduled from 10am to 5pm, had to be extended till 9pm because of the heavy turnout at settlement camps. The transport department had not released the final figures by the time of going to press at 9pm on Saturday. "Directions were issued to increase the duration of camps at the National Lok Adalat till 9pm on Saturday, given the overwhelming response of people," said Justice Mohit Kumar Shah, executive chairman of the Patna High Court Legal Services Committee and inspecting judge of Patna district, who visited the venue at Gyan Bhawan in Patna along with Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo. The traffic challan initiative was launched following directions issued by a division bench of the Patna high court comprising Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar in a civil writ petition. Apart from traffic challans, 468 cases were disposed of as against a total 1,057 matters referred by the Patna High Court Legal Services Committee to the National Lok Adalat. These included matrimonial disputes, motor accident and insurance claims, railway tribunal matters, cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act such as loan default disputes, and compounding cases related to electricity theft. While the drive witnessed an enthusiastic response from citizens availing up to 50% concession on pending challans, the first-of-its-kind exercise also exposed several operational shortcomings. At the Gyan Bhawan venue in Patna, the online payment facility - which the high court had specifically stressed in its May 4 order - was largely non-functional, forcing many people to arrange cash payments. "My father has a total challan of Rs.43,000 and the counter staff is demanding that I pay the settlement amount in cash, as the online payment system is not working. Who carries so much cash these days?" said Praveen Kumar, a lawyer at the Patna high court. Transport department officials attributed the problem to poor connectivity through Beltron. "We checked the online payment system last evening, but today there were connectivity issues at the venue. We had put up five point-of-sale machines and QR codes for online payment, but connectivity issues did hamper online payment," said Upendra Kumar Pal, district transport officer, Patna. The department also failed to integrate real-time settlement of challans with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) on the Union ministry of road transport and highways' (MoRTH) portal. "The court module for settlement of traffic challans is not functional as of now in Bihar. It will take some time to implement it. We are, however, compiling on an Excel sheet all the traffic challans being settled at the National Lok Adalat. We will send the data to the NIC, which will update it on the MoRTH portal by Tuesday," said Bihar transport commissioner Arif Ahsan. Several motorists also complained that many traffic violations did not receive any meaningful relief under the settlement scheme. These included offences such as using mobile phones while driving, overloading, jumping red lights, violating stop signs, overtaking in no-overtaking zones and certain categories of dangerous driving. The April 30 gazette notification issued by the Bihar government retained the earlier penalty structure notified on August 18, 2023, prescribing settlement amounts of up to Rs.5,000 for offences under Section 184 (A to F) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Odisha, which the high court referred to in its order, had fixed a flat settlement amount of Rs.1,000 for similar offences. Others, including Anuj Kumar and Praveen Kumar, alleged that challans related to heavy vehicles were not taken up for settlement during the Lok Adalat. Md Mazoor Alam said an overspeeding challan issued in Uttar Pradesh could not be settled in Bihar. Officials said most of the challans disposed of were related to riding two-wheelers without helmets, overspeeding, driving without valid pollution certificates, driving licences, insurance and wrong-side driving. Special arrangements had been made at district transport offices, court premises and designated centres across Bihar for smooth disposal of cases. Assistance counters, challan verification desks, digital payment centres and help desks were set up, while long queues of vehicle owners were seen at several venues throughout the day. Transport secretary Raj Kumar said the state government was according top priority to road safety and regularly conducting awareness campaigns to encourage compliance with traffic rules. "The One-Time Traffic Challan Settlement Scheme-2026 has been implemented to provide relief to citizens. Through the National Lok Adalat, a large number of people have settled their old pending challans. This has not only expedited disposal of pending cases, but has also increased awareness among people regarding adherence to traffic rules," he said. He added that the transport department would continue such public-oriented initiatives in future and further strengthen technology-driven traffic management systems to reduce road accidents and ensure safer roads....