PATNA, July 4 -- The Patna District Transport Office (DTO) is developing a dedicated software application to make settlement of eligible traffic challans under the "One-time Traffic Challan Settlement Scheme, 2026, faster, simpler and completely paperless ahead of the next National Lok Adalat scheduled in September, said officials on Friday. Under the new system, motorists seeking settlement of compoundable traffic challans at up to 50 per cent discounted rates will no longer be required to submit photocopies of documents such as Aadhaar, vehicle registration certificate (RC), traffic challans and written applications, as they were expected to do during the previous National Lok Adalat on May 9. Instead, they will only need to provide the vehicle registration number at designated counters. The software will automatically retrieve the vehicle owner's details, pending traffic challans and the applicable compoundable settlement amount for each violation, enabling payment through UPI, other digital modes or cash. Patna district transport officer Upendra Kumar Pal said the software is expected to reduce the average processing time for each application from 5-10 minutes to just 2-3 minutes, significantly improving disposal rates. During the National Lok Adalat on May 9, despite 10,119 applications being received in Patna only 6,970 traffic challans could be settled in Patna and 36,700 challans across Bihar. Patna alone has nearly 16 lakh pending traffic challans, "The trial run of the software is expected next week. After successful testing, it will be integrated with transport department's system and implemented before upcoming National Lok Adalat in September," Pal said. Officials said the digitised system will also eliminate the role of middlemen and remove the need for motorists to engage lawyers for settlement of eligible traffic challans through the National Lok Adalat....