Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore, once known for its discipline and civic sense in Swacchata while Indore’s traffic scene paints a picture of chaos and defiance.
Despite relentless efforts by the city’s traffic police from awareness drives to strict challan enforcement Indoreans seem to have turned a deaf ear. The numbers reveal a harsh truth and the police appear to be losing the battle against habitual rule-breakers.
In just the first nine months of 2025, Indore’s traffic police issued 96,577 challans, generating Rs 4.19 crore in fines nearly double the Rs 2.81 crore collected in year 2024.
From January 2024 to September 2025, a total of 1.63 lakh traffic violations were recorded, out of which 95,806 challans (about 58%) were issued for only riding two-wheelers without helmets.
This year, the average number of daily challans has jumped 94% from 182 per day in 2024 to 353 per day in 2025. Yet, despite the heavy enforcement, the city’s roads remain scenes of daily indiscipline red-light jumping, over-speeding, and reckless two-wheeler stunts.
Breakdown of 2025 traffic offences
Among the major violations recorded in 2025, the highest number of cases 54,516 were for riding two-wheelers without helmets. This was followed by 11,280 cases of vehicles running with faulty or missing number plates and 8,135 instances of signal jumping.
The police also booked 2,272 motorists for wrong parking, 1,890 riders for triple riding, and 481 drivers for operating vehicles without valid insurance. Additionally, 598 vehicles were caught using modified silencers, while 253 were penalised for air pollution-related offences.
In four-wheelers, 3,038 drivers were fined for not wearing seat belts, and 3,677 for using black films on windows. Apart from these, 559 cases of drunk driving, 419 of using mobile phones while driving, and 7,890 other miscellaneous violations were registered, reflecting widespread disregard for road safety norms across the city.
Five-Year Picture: Rs 26 Crore in fines, no change in mindset
Over the past five years (January 2021–September 2025), Indore’s traffic police have issued 5.87 lakh challans, collecting more than Rs 26 crore in fines.
2021: 87,220 challans — Rs 3.92 crore
2022: 1,89,336 challans — Rs 8.84 crore
2023: 1,47,126 challans — Rs 6.57 crore
2024: 66,941 challans — Rs 2.81 crore
2025 (till September): 96,577 challans — Rs 4.19 crore
Traffic Violation - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024 - Jan–Sep 2025
Wrong parking - 3739 - 8984 - 7448 - 3825 - 2272
Faulty or missing number plates - 6718 - 18991 - 6380 - 1154 - 11280
Signal violations - 28298 - 84370 - 59696 - 9610 - 8135
Overload - 11 - 64 - 323 - 405 - 334
Triple riding - 1735 - 3307 - 1209 - 327 - 1890
High-speed driving - 1915 - 780 - 805 - 75 - 658
Modified silencers - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2211 - 598
Air pollution - 254 - 42 - 42 - 93 - 253
Without helmets - 23327 - 39063 - 46761 - 41290 - 54516
Without seat belts - 4182 - 8175 - 13788 - 2442 - 3038
Black film on windows - 3502 - 5438 - 3339 - 606 - 3677
Without permit - 222 - 49 - 8 - 7 - 7
Unauthorised hooters - 7 - 20 - 7 - 13 - 215
Drunk driving - 491 - 181 - 323 - 102 - 559
Without license - 498 - 378 - 125 - 61 - 164
Other violations - 7564 - 11414 - 5144 - 4504 - 7890
Santosh Kumar Kaul, Additional DCP (Traffic) said,“The police are regularly issuing challans and conducting various awareness campaigns to educate people. However, we are still not receiving adequate cooperation from citizens. Until people develop self-discipline and take personal responsibility for following traffic rules, true awareness cannot be achieved.”
