Most traffic challans are simple. You get a message, you pay online, and the matter ends. But a challan that is left unpaid does not stay simple. After the payment window passes, it can be sent to a court, and once it is in court the usual online route may no longer close it. For many owners, the National Lok Adalat is the most practical place to settle such challans in one go. The last one of 2026 is on Saturday, 12 December. If you own a vehicle with old challans, or you are about to buy a used car or bike from someone who does, the next eight weeks matter. This guide explains what the December sitting can and cannot do, which challans qualify, and how to check a vehicle's record before you act.
The 2026 Calendar: One Date Left
The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) fixes the national calendar each year. For 2026, NALSA's Member Secretary informed state authorities, through letter No. L/34/2018-NALSA dated 04.12.2025, that National Lok Adalats would be held on the second Saturday of March, May, September and December. The Haryana and Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authorities both carry the same four dates on their official pages.
| Sitting | Date | Status on 13 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| First | Saturday, 14 March 2026 | Held |
| Second | Saturday, 9 May 2026 | Held |
| Third | Saturday, 12 September 2026 | Held in most states |
| Fourth | Saturday, 12 December 2026 | Upcoming, last of the year |
The national date is not always the local date. For the September round, LiveLaw reported that Karnataka, Rajasthan and Delhi held their sittings on different days: Karnataka on 19 September, Rajasthan on 10 October, and Delhi on 25 October. So treat 12 December as the national date, and confirm the date for your own city with your State or District Legal Services Authority. The NALSA helpline, 15100, is toll-free.
What Happened on 12 September
The third sitting was large. According to tentative NALSA figures reported by LiveLaw, 2,10,39,112 cases were settled by 7 pm on 12 September 2026, with a combined settlement value of Rs. 13,589.28 Crore. Of these, 1,90,75,743 were pre-litigation matters and 19,63,369 were cases already pending in courts. Benches sat across 26 States and 7 Union Territories.
NALSA's headline figures cover every kind of case, from bank recovery and cheque bounce to family and utility disputes. They do not give a separate national count for traffic challans, so we will not guess one. Local reports show how much of the load can be traffic. In Ranchi, the District Legal Services Authority Secretary told UNI that about 50,000 notices had been issued for the September sitting, and around 30,000 of them related to traffic challans. That is roughly three in every five.
Plain meaning of the words used here: a Lok Adalat is a "people's court" run by legal services authorities, where cases are settled by agreement. A court challan is a traffic challan that was not paid in time and was sent to a court. A compoundable offence is one that can be closed by paying a fixed amount, without a full trial.
Which Challans Can Go to Lok Adalat
Not every challan belongs at a Lok Adalat, and not every challan needs one. It helps to sort your challans into three groups before you plan anything.
Online pending vs sent to court
A challan that is still pending online can usually just be paid through the official challan portal. There is no need to wait for December. A challan that has gone to court is different. In Haryana, police told The Tribune in February 2025 that a challan left unpaid for 90 days is transferred to a virtual court. Once that happens, it is handled through the court system, and a Lok Adalat sitting is one of the ways to close it. Our explainer on clearing a challan that sits in virtual court walks through that route in more detail.
Compoundable vs non-compoundable
Section 200 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 lists the offences that can be compounded, at amounts each state notifies. Driving by a drunk person under Section 185 is not on that list. Lok Adalat traffic drives therefore take up minor, compoundable offences: no helmet, no seatbelt, jumping a signal, overspeeding, wrong parking, an expired PUC. Coverage of past Delhi drives has consistently said that drink-driving, hit-and-run and fatal accident cases are not considered. Those continue through the regular court.
| Type of Challan | Usual Route | December Lok Adalat? |
|---|---|---|
| Pending online, within time | Pay on the official challan portal | Not needed |
| Minor offence, sent to court | Court or virtual court | Often taken up, if the state lists it |
| Drink-driving (Sec 185) | Regular court | Generally not, as it is not compoundable |
| Hit-and-run or fatal accident | Regular court | No |
| Already paid or disposed | None | Not eligible |
Each drive also sets its own rules. For Delhi's February 2026 sitting, for example, reports said only compoundable challans sent to the virtual court by 31 October 2025 were eligible. A challan issued last week may simply be too new for the December list. And in some states, traffic challans may not be taken up at a given sitting at all. Before the December 2025 sitting, Maharashtra traffic police clarified, as reported by Angel One, that no mass e-challan settlement had been arranged for that date.
Why Owners Should Check Now, Not in December
The sitting is on one day, but the work starts days earlier. Where a state uses online tokens or challan downloads, the window usually opens only a few days before the sitting, and it is capped. For Delhi's May and September 2025 sittings, for example, reports said the traffic police allowed 60,000 challan downloads a day, up to 1,80,000 in total, starting about five days before the date. People who wait for the window to open, and only then try to work out what they owe, are the ones who miss it.
So use the time you have now. Find every challan on your vehicle. Note which ones are still payable online and pay those directly. Mark the ones that have gone to court. Then watch your State Legal Services Authority and your city traffic police for the December notice, which will say whether traffic challans are included, what the cut-off date is, and how to register.
Ignore "flat discount" forwards. Messages promising a fixed percentage off every challan at Lok Adalat circulate before most sittings, and traffic police have denied them before. Get the details only from your State or District Legal Services Authority or your traffic police. For more on how these messages trap people, read our report on fake challan messages aimed at used car buyers.
The Reduction Is the Bench's Call
A Lok Adalat may settle a court challan for less than the amount shown. It may also not. Any reduction is decided by the bench on the day, based on the offence and the facts in front of it. There is no fixed rate that applies across the country, and nobody can promise you a figure in advance.
Two more points are worth knowing. First, under Section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, a Lok Adalat award is final and binding on the parties, and no appeal lies against it. If you agree to a settlement, that is the end of the matter. Second, a Lok Adalat works by agreement. If you do not accept what is offered, the case goes back to the regular court and continues there.
Buying a used vehicle before December?
The Used Car History Check gives the full RC record and the pending challans in one report, so you see the dues and the paperwork together.
What This Means for Used Vehicle Buyers and Sellers
If you are buying
A challan is recorded against the vehicle's registration number. When a car or bike changes hands, its pending challans and court challans are still on that record. That matters for more than money. Under Rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, a challan is meant to be disposed of within 90 days, and beyond that, applications for the registration of the vehicle in the challan may not be processed. States apply this in different ways. In Punjab, for instance, the Patiala RTA said in March 2025 that vehicles with fines unpaid beyond 90 days would be blacklisted, and that blacklisted vehicles are ineligible for services including vehicle registration. A transfer can stall because of a challan you did not create.
The December sitting gives you a clear, fair deadline to put to the seller. If the record shows court challans, ask the seller to settle them at the 12 December Lok Adalat, or earlier through the court, and to show you the receipt or the court's order. Until then, keep back an amount that covers the listed fines, or agree in writing that the balance is paid only after the record is clear. If a challan is for drink-driving or another serious offence, it will not go away in a Lok Adalat, so plan around the regular court instead. Our guide on court-pending challans on a used car covers what happens when a buyer inherits them.
This applies to bikes as much as cars. Two-wheelers pick up helmet and signal challans fast, and many of them go unpaid. If you are shopping for a used two-wheeler or a used car, check the challans on the exact registration number before you pay a token.
If you are selling
A buyer who finds court challans on your vehicle will either walk away or ask for a lower price. Clearing them first is cheaper than either. Run your own number, pay what can be paid online now, and take the court challans to the December sitting if your state includes them. A vehicle with a clean challan record is simpler to sell. If you then list it, a Verified listing for Rs. 99 shows buyers that the registration number has been checked against the VAHAN database.
Your Checklist Before 12 December
- Get the full challan list. Use the registration number, not memory. Note each challan's number, date, offence, fine and status.
- Pay what can be paid online. A challan still payable on the official challan portal does not need to wait for December.
- Separate the court challans. These are the ones the December sitting may help with, if your state lists traffic matters.
- Flag the non-compoundable ones. Drink-driving under Section 185, hit-and-run and accident cases go through the regular court.
- Confirm your local date and rules. Check your State or District Legal Services Authority and city traffic police for the December notice, the cut-off date and the token process. Call 15100 if you need help.
- Register the day the window opens. Where tokens or downloads are capped, early registration is what gets you a place.
- Buyers: check again before final payment. A record can change between your first look and the sale. A fresh check closes that gap.
What the Rs. 99 Challan Check Shows, and What It Does Not
VahanBazaar's Challan Check reads the traffic authority database by registration number. It lists the pending challans on the vehicle, with challan number, date, offence, fine amount and status, and it flags challans that have gone to court separately. That court flag is the piece that matters most before a Lok Adalat, because it tells you which challans cannot simply be paid online. The result is as at the lookup time. If the check cannot be completed, you are refunded within 7 working days. A delivered report, including one that shows no pending challans, is not refundable.
The Challan Check does not settle a challan, book a Lok Adalat token or predict what a bench will decide. It tells you what is on the record so you can act on it. For a buyer, the Rs. 149 Used Car History Check adds the full RC record, such as RC status, insurance, financer details and blacklist flags, to the same challan list. For a deeper look at handling challans on a two-wheeler, see our tip on checking and clearing used bike challans.
Know What Is Pending Before 12 December
Run the registration number on the Rs. 99 Challan Check. See every pending challan and which ones have gone to court, so you can pay, plan for the Lok Adalat, or ask the seller to clear them first.
Frequently Asked Questions
The fourth and last National Lok Adalat of 2026 is on Saturday, 12 December 2026, as per the NALSA schedule (letter No. L/34/2018-NALSA dated 04.12.2025). Some states hold their sitting on a different date, so confirm with your State or District Legal Services Authority.
Generally no. Section 200 of the Motor Vehicles Act lists the offences that can be compounded, and drink-driving under Section 185 is not on that list. Lok Adalat traffic drives take up compoundable offences such as helmet, seatbelt, signal and parking violations. Serious matters like drink-driving, hit-and-run and fatal accidents go through the regular court.
It may, but nothing is promised. Any reduction is decided by the bench on the day, based on the offence and the facts. Viral messages promising a fixed discount have been denied by traffic police before. A settlement reached at Lok Adalat is final and cannot be appealed.
Challans sit on the vehicle's registration record, so they show up when the vehicle changes hands. Under Rule 167 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, a challan unpaid beyond 90 days can stop registration applications for that vehicle from being processed, and some states blacklist such vehicles. Ask the seller to clear every pending and court challan before you pay in full.
Run the registration number on VahanBazaar's Challan Check for Rs. 99. It lists the pending challans with challan number, date, offence, fine and status, and flags challans sent to court separately, as at the lookup time. If the check cannot be completed, you are refunded within 7 working days.