Chaos erupted in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday as a technical failure in the central online payment system for traffic fines forced hundreds of motorists to queue up outside the traffic police station. The situation compelled many to take unscheduled leave from their workplaces simply to clear pending e-challans offline, a mandatory step now linked to obtaining a crucial pollution certificate.
Portal Crash Triggers Offline Rush
The root of the problem was the crash of the government's e-challan payment portal, www.echallan.parivahan.gov.in. Transport officials confirmed the crash was due to an unexpected and massive surge in users trying to log in simultaneously, which overloaded the servers. This online rush was directly triggered by a recent state government directive issued on December 20. The order stated that vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) would be denied fuel at petrol pumps.
To obtain this essential PUCC, the system mandates that motorists must first clear any e-challans that have been pending for more than 90 days. This new rule created an immediate and unprecedented scramble to pay old fines, leading directly to the portal's failure under heavy load.
Personal Ordeals in the Long Queues
The human cost of the technical glitch was evident in the long, snaking lines at the traffic police station. Prasana Dehury, an operational manager at a shopping centre, shared his frustrating experience. "I repeatedly tried to access the website, but it was extremely slow and eventually stopped working," he said. "When I reached the traffic police station in the morning, nearly 50 people were already in line. I had no choice but to take a day's leave from work to pay offline."
Another commuter, who wished to remain anonymous, faced a similar predicament, compounding existing personal strain. "I already took two days off due to illness. Though I was supposed to rejoin duty on Wednesday, I had to extend my leave just to clear the e-challan. I stood in the queue for two hours," the individual recounted.
Perhaps the most poignant account came from a young man seen waiting in line while wearing a waist brace for spinal support. "I suffer from spinal issues and was advised rest. Yet I was forced to stand in the queue because the online payment system failed," he lamented, highlighting the system's failure to account for citizens' vulnerabilities.
Official Response and Key Clarifications
In response to the crisis, transport authorities have alerted the IT team of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to resolve the portal issues. A senior transport official urged the public not to panic, offering a crucial piece of information. "People need not panic as the government has already postponed the 'no PUCC, no fuel' enforcement to February. There is sufficient time to clear pending e-challans and obtain the certificate," the official stated.
The official also clarified the precise rule currently in effect: payment of e-challans pending for over 90 days is compulsory to secure a PUCC. The Vahan portal, used by authorized emission testing centres, is programmed to reject PUCC applications if such old challans are not cleared. However, applications can proceed normally if the pending challans are less than 90 days old.
The incident in Bhubaneswar underscores the challenges of digitizing essential citizen services without ensuring robust and scalable backend infrastructure, especially when new compliance rules create sudden peaks in user demand.
