Lok Adalat for Traffic Challans: How to Check, Register and Settle

Pending traffic challans can often be settled at a National Lok Adalat, which legal services authorities hold several times a year. First check your challans on echallan.parivahan.gov.in. Then register and download a token or appointment through the online process your state notifies before each Lok Adalat. Minor, compoundable offences are usually taken up. Serious ones such as drunk driving, hit and run, or causing death by negligent driving are generally kept out. If a challan is wrong, you can contest it before the virtual court through vcourts.gov.in instead of paying.

How traffic challans reach a court

Most challans today are e-challans generated on the eChallan system and sent to you by SMS. You can pay many of them online. If a challan stays unpaid, it can be forwarded to a court for disposal, often a virtual court set up under the eCourts project. Virtual courts deal with traffic challans online: the case is shown with the proposed fine, and you can either pay or choose to contest.

A National Lok Adalat gives another route. Legal services authorities, under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, refer pending compoundable challans to the Lok Adalat so they can be closed in bulk on a single day. Whether a fine is reduced, and by how much, is for the Lok Adalat bench to decide in each case. No fixed discount is guaranteed.

Step by step: settling challans at a National Lok Adalat

1. Check pending challans. On echallan.parivahan.gov.in, search by challan number, vehicle number or driving licence number. Note each challan number, date, offence and whether it is shown as sent to court.
2. Watch for the Lok Adalat date. NALSA and state legal services authorities announce National Lok Adalat dates in advance. Traffic police and state legal services websites then publish their own notice for challans.
3. Register online and get a token. Many states, such as Delhi, require online registration and a downloaded token or appointment letter that names the court, date and time. Walk-ins are often not accepted. Follow your state’s notice exactly.
4. Attend on the day. Carry the token, a printout of the challan, your driving licence, the vehicle’s registration certificate and identity proof. Go to the bench named on the token.
5. Settle and keep proof. Pay whatever the bench settles on and keep the receipt or order. Check the eChallan portal after some days to confirm the challan shows as disposed.

What can and cannot be settled

Section 19(5) of the Legal Services Authorities Act bars a Lok Adalat from dealing with any offence that is not compoundable. State notices for traffic challans therefore usually limit the Lok Adalat to minor violations. Lists differ by state and by sitting, but commonly:

• Usually taken up: riding without a helmet, not wearing a seat belt, jumping a red light, wrong parking, over-speeding, no valid PUC certificate, missing or improper number plate, ignoring traffic signs, and challans issued in error.
• Usually excluded: drunk driving, hit and run, causing death by negligent driving, driving by a minor, unauthorised racing, vehicles used in a crime, challans of another state, and challans already pending before a regular court.

Always check your own state’s list for that particular Lok Adalat. If your challan is excluded, it will be dealt with by the regular or virtual court.

Contesting a wrong challan before the virtual court

You do not have to pay a challan you believe is wrong. If it has been sent to a virtual court:

1. Open vcourts.gov.in and choose the court for your state or the department that issued the challan.
2. Search by challan number, vehicle number, mobile number or CNR number.
3. Open the case. You will see the offence and the proposed fine, with options to pay or to contest.
4. Choose contest, add a short remark on why the challan is wrong, and submit. Save the acknowledgement.
5. The case then goes to the regular court for hearing. The online payment option will no longer apply, so attend on the date given with your evidence, such as photos, a dashcam clip, or proof that the vehicle was elsewhere.

Example: Vikram in Delhi finds three challans on the eChallan portal: two for parking and one for a red light he says his car never crossed, because it was at a service centre that day. He registers for the National Lok Adalat for the parking challans and settles them on the day. For the red light challan he chooses “contest” on vcourts.gov.in, keeping the service centre’s job card as proof.

Frequently asked questions

Will the Lok Adalat waive my challan completely?

Possibly, but it is not guaranteed. The bench decides each case. Many challans are settled at a reduced amount; some are closed.

Can I settle a drunk driving challan at a Lok Adalat?

Generally no. State notices typically exclude drunk driving and other serious offences.

Do I need to register in advance?

In most states that run traffic challan benches, yes. Delhi, for example, requires an online token and appointment.

Can I appeal a Lok Adalat settlement later?

No. A Lok Adalat award is final and no appeal lies under Section 21. Settle only if you accept the terms.

My challan is from another state. Can I settle it in my city?

Usually not. Challans are dealt with by the courts of the state that issued them.

Quick quiz

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Sources

• Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended in 2019
• Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987: Sections 19, 20 and 21
• eChallan system of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (NIC): echallan.parivahan.gov.in
• eCourts Virtual Courts: vcourts.gov.in
• State legal services authority and traffic police notices for National Lok Adalats

This page is for education and general information, not legal advice for a specific case. Law as on 29 October 2026.