Why in news?  The Gujarat government recently told the High Court, which was hearing a public interest litigation seeking the setting up of virtual traffic courts in the state, that it was already in the process of doing so under the ‘One Nation One Challan’ initiative

What Is The One Nation, One Challan Initiative?

• Initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
• Aim – Bring all related agencies, such as the traffic police and the Regional Transport Office (RTO), on one platform
• Why – Enable seamless collection of challans as well as data transfer
• Integrated system involves detection of traffic violations through the CCTV network and getting the registration number of the erring vehicle from applications like VAHAN (detecting the vehicle’s ownership details) and SARATHI (compilation of driving licenses)
• E-challan is then generated with the relevant penalty amount, and sent to the mobile number linked with the vehicle.

How do virtual traffic courts work?

If someone doesn’t pay the challan amount within 90 days, the challan will be automatically forwarded to a virtual court and proceedings will be initiated. Summons will be sent on the mobile phone of the offender. If the fine is still not paid, further legal proceedings will follow.