It has happened to enough Nagpur motorists to be almost a running joke — an e-challan landing on your phone for a violation your vehicle allegedly committed while it was parked in your driveway. Until now, contesting it meant making rounds of the traffic police station with little hope of resolution. That changes now.
The Maharashtra government has activated a formal grievance mechanism for wrongly issued e-challans, and crucially, it comes with teeth: traffic authorities must resolve every complaint within 45 days — or face a statutory lapse.
The trigger is a central amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act, notified on January 20, 2026, which revised Rule 167 under Section 169 to make grievance disposal time-bound. Maharashtra has since brought its own system in line.
The errors that prompt such complaints are well-documented — automated cameras misreading number plates, clocking violations against the wrong vehicle, or flagging a car that wasn’t even moving. With crores of e-challans issued annually across Maharashtra, a small error rate still translates into a large number of wronged motorists.
The fix is now online. Motorists can visit mahatrafficechallan.gov.in, select “Raise a Grievance for Wrongly Booked Challan,” and submit their complaint. A tracking number arrives by SMS. Offline complaints can still be filed at the nearest traffic police station with the challan copy, RC, and ID proof.
The 45-day clock starts the moment the complaint is logged.
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