Drink driving surges with 3,235 challans till June — just 9% short of 3,561 cases in 2024

Indian Express

10-07-2025

Drunken driving cases in Chandigarh are rising at an alarming rate in 2025, even as licence suspensions, acting as a key deterrent, have dropped sharply. This fall, experts say, has raised serious concerns over the city's traffic enforcement and its ability to curb repeat offences.
Between January 1 and June 30, the city police issued 3,235 challans for drunken driving — just 9 per cent short of 3,561 cases recorded in the entire year of 2024 and exceeding 3,160 challans issued in 2023. Given the current pace, the city is likely to breach the 7,000-mark of drunken driving cases by December, more than double last year's total.
In contrast, only 188 licences were suspended in the first half of 2025, compared to 800 in 2024 and 1,730 in 2023, a drop of 76 per cent from the previous year and nearly 90 per cent from 2023. This disconnect between rising violations and falling consequences has led to questions about the deterrent effect of the current enforcement regime.
RTI activist and traffic safety advocate RK Garg, a resident of Sector 27, said the figures expose significant enforcement gaps. 'The drunken driving challans issued in six months are more than the consecutive period last year. At this rate, we may see over 7,000 cases by December,' Garg said. 'The fact that we have around 600 traffic police personnel on the roads daily, yet drunken driving remains out of control, shows enforcement gaps.' He identified key hotspots for drunken driving, including sectors 26, 9, parts of Sector 17, and the 35-36 stretch.
'Several suggestions have been made to install breath analysers and monitoring equipment at all exit points of these hotspots. While the police have agreed in principle, no concrete steps have been taken,' Garg added.
He flagged late-night liquor sale hours and unpaid challans as contributing factors. 'People do not fear the law, and many challans go unpaid without resulting in license suspension.'
Despite a sharp dip in overall challans this year, fine collection remains high. The Chandigarh traffic police collected Rs 19.71 crore in fines in the first half of 2025 — over 80 per cent of Rs 24.35 crore collected in the entire 2024. In 2023, the city had collected Rs 33.78 crore over the year.
In terms of total traffic challans, 4,65,437 were issued from January to June this year. If the trend holds, 2025 may end up below nearly 10 lakh challans, issued annually jointly in 2023 and 2024, indicating either reduced enforcement activity or improved compliance in non-critical violations.
Garg, citing official estimates, said, 'The city issues about 1 lakh challans every month, around 3,000 daily. Of these, around 20 each day are for drunken driving. We need a comprehensive review of enforcement strategies, stricter follow-up on unpaid fines, and immediate licence suspension to restore deterrence.'
Calling for a societal shift in attitudes towards road safety, Garg added, 'Not just the administration, but society at large must step up. We need a mindset change. The city cannot afford to treat drunken driving as a minor offence any longer.'