Chennai traffic police have proposed cancelling driving licences and seizing vehicles from repeat offenders as the department faces persistent unpaid fines and continued violations despite wider use of automated enforcement systems. The proposal is under discussion with the Tamil Nadu government, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Megalina Iden said at the Tamil Nadu Road Safety Conference 2026 in Chennai.
The police have raised concerns that existing penalties are not sufficiently changing driver behaviour because motorists can continue using their vehicles after violations. Iden said pending fines are generally collected only when vehicle owners approach Regional Transport Offices for fitness certificates, limiting the effectiveness of the current recovery process.
Between October 2025 and September 2026, Chennai traffic police registered 26,273 drunk-driving cases. At a penalty of Rs 10,000 per case, the fines totalled Rs 262.73 crore, but only Rs 120 crore had been collected, according to figures presented at the conference. The department also recorded 7,000 signal-violation cases and 6,700 cases involving mobile-phone use while driving during the period.
Helmet compliance remains another enforcement challenge. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B Chamundeswari said the police had booked 2,84,123 cases involving riders without helmets over the past year. Only about half of the fines across the categories cited at the conference had been paid, highlighting the gap between detecting violations and securing compliance.
“Technology has made detection of violations easier, but it has not resolved the problem of non-compliance,” an official noted. Chennai’s Integrated Traffic Management System, developed under the Smart City project, includes adaptive traffic signals, incident detection, and cameras for red-light, speed and lane violations, along with automatic number-plate recognition. According to the department, about half of the system has been implemented and the remaining work is expected to be completed soon.
The proposed enforcement measures come against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu’s wider road-safety burden. A presentation by the Citizen consumer and civic Action Group, which organised the conference, cited 67,526 road crashes and 18,449 fatalities in the state in 2024. These accounted for 13.8 per cent of crashes and 10.4 per cent of road deaths recorded nationally, based on the figures presented.
Speeding was attributed to 70.7 per cent of crashes and 70.3 per cent of fatalities in the state. Two-wheeler users accounted for 46.2 per cent of those affected, while pedestrians represented 20.6 per cent. The presentation also recorded 10,117 children below the age of 18 among those affected, while 83.3 per cent belonged to the 18-to-60 age group.
The data indicates that enforcement in Chennai sits within a broader road-safety system extending beyond city traffic management. The presentation said 63.9 per cent of crashes occurred in rural areas and 59 per cent on highways, while highways accounted for 52 per cent of fatalities despite making up only 5 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s road network.
Within the state, Coimbatore recorded the highest number of crashes in the cited data, at 3,657, followed by Chennai city with 3,654 and Chengalpattu with 3,402. Tiruppur, Salem, Cuddalore, Madurai, Thiruvallur, Villupuram and Tiruchy were also among the districts and cities listed with high crash counts.
The Citizen consumer and civic Action Group called for a state road-safety action plan that could provide common guidance and resources while responding to district-specific risks. Officials, police personnel, researchers and specialists attending the conference discussed implementation of the Tamil Nadu Road Safety Mission. The proposed licence cancellations and vehicle seizures remain under discussion with the state government.
