Rawalpindi issues 600 e-challans in first four days of new system

Automates monitoring of 19 traffic violations, challan notices being dispatched directly to vehicle owners

Rawalpindi has formally introduced and enforced an e-challan system for traffic violations. Within merely four days, 600 challans have been issued for a range of breaches of traffic regulations.

According to SSP Safe City Rawalpindi, Rana Abdul Wahab, more than 2,100 cameras positioned across 360 locations are now being utilised not only for security surveillance and traffic management but have also been fully integrated with the e-challaning system via the Safe City Command and Control Centre. This initiative, he emphasised, is aimed at improving the safety of the city’s roads and their users.

The Artificial Intelligence–enabled network, fitted with smart cameras, records traffic violations on major thoroughfares without exception, with challan notices being dispatched directly to vehicle owners.

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Offering further insight, SSP Safe City Rawalpindi Region, Rana Wahab—accompanied by SP Safe City Razaullah Shah and DSP Safe City Kashif Riaz—addressed a press conference at the Safe City Command and Control Headquarters in Rawalpindi regarding the launch of the e-challan system.

He explained that the Command and Control Centre, which already oversees security surveillance, has now been formally linked with the traffic management framework and the smart-camera-based e-challan mechanism.

Across the Cantonment and adjoining areas, over 2,100 smart and high-sensitivity cameras have been installed in connection with more than 300 cases. These allow for automated monitoring of 19 categories of traffic violations. In the first four days alone, six hundred e-challans have been generated and delivered to the relevant vehicle owners.

Initially, priority is being given to violations that pose the greatest risk to human life—such as riding motorcycles without helmets, failing to wear seatbelts, and using mobile phones while driving. However, the e-challan system will progressively be expanded to cover all traffic offences. Wahab affirmed that the smart cameras now record violations with supporting evidence, on the basis of which challans are issued.

He added that monitoring relating to smog is also under way. At forty-one project sites, air-quality measuring devices have been installed, and the Safe City programme is providing assistance to relevant departments in assessing and managing air quality data. Rana Wahab further noted that Safe City projects across all tehsils of Rawalpindi will be fully operational by 31 December.

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Responding to a question, the police officer clarified that surveillance is active not only at the site of the Kachehri Chowk redevelopment project but also along alternative routes. The system is capable of monitoring nineteen distinct categories of violations.

Regarding VIP movement, he stated that the law applies to everyone, though operational parameters for VIPs may differ. He also clarified that challans dating back to August are being issued; however, no challan predating 22 November or older than twenty-four hours will now be generated. The system operates continuously and is capable of detecting all types of violations.

Wahab added that recommendations for improvements to the road infrastructure will also be submitted. The Traffic Police, he emphasised, remain the primary custodians of traffic regulation. Should any citizen feel dissatisfied with a challan, they retain the right to lodge an appeal before a magistrate.

The overarching aim, he said, is to provide better facilities for the public. Panic buttons are also being installed throughout the city.

He further revealed that the Safe City system maintains a database of over 14,000 registered blood donors. Upon receiving a call, donors are connected with the patient’s family. Each district has been tasked with registering twenty-five new donors each day.