BRS leader Manne Krishnak slammed the proposal as a desperate revenue generation tactic amid the Congress government’s struggles to deliver on its election promises.
Published Jan 13, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 13, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy
Synopsis: Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has proposed an auto-debit system under which vehicle owners’ bank accounts would be mandatorily linked to the transport department, allowing traffic fines to be automatically deducted whenever a challan is issued. The proposal has met with backlash, with critics accusing the government of ignoring the root causes of traffic violations and instead batting for a punitive cash grab.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has floated an auto-debit system for traffic fines, under which vehicle owners’ bank accounts would be mandatorily linked to the transport department during registration or renewal. Any challan issued would trigger an automatic deduction directly from the vehicle owner’s account.
The Chief Minister emphasised “synchronising” these accounts for seamless enforcement.
“Steps should be taken to ensure that penalties for traffic rule violations are automatically deducted from the vehicle owner’s account,” he said while speaking at “Arrive Alive”, a programme organised by the police department on road safety in Hyderabad on Monday, 12 January.
“Whenever a vehicle is brought to the Transport Department for registration, the vehicle owner’s bank account should be synchronised with the department so that whenever there is a traffic challan on the vehicle, the amount is automatically debited and credited to the department’s account. We will take traffic regulation as a top priority and strengthen it accordingly.”
The suggestion has met with backlash, with critics accusing the government of ignoring the root causes of traffic violations. They argue that instead of addressing these issues, the Revanth Reddy administration is more interested in punitive cash grabs than real traffic reforms.
At a time when Hyderabad’s roads remain chaotic, with potholes, poor signalling and inadequate infrastructure contributing far more to accidents than driver error alone, the Chief Minister’s suggestion did not go down well.
Opposition voices, including BRS leader Manne Krishnak, slammed the proposal as a desperate revenue generation tactic amid the Congress government’s struggles to deliver on its election promises.
Krishnak warned that mandatory auto-debits without explicit consent could open the door to scams, fraud and privacy violations, leaving ordinary citizens vulnerable to unauthorised deductions.
In an era of rising cyber fraud, with fake challan links already cheating people elsewhere, forcing bank account linkages sounds like an invitation for trouble rather than a smart solution.
Telangana already has an e-challan system for online payments. Making bank linkages compulsory would require major legal changes, coordination with banks and strong safeguards, none of which appear to have been thought through yet.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
