A DIGITAL STEP, BUT ON THE BROKEN ROADS
Anyone who has lived in Karachi knows that our roads are more than just pathways, they are daily tests of patience, survival, and instinct. Every morning, as the city wakes up, a familiar chaos returns: motorcycles weaving through traffic, buses stopping wherever they please, cars inching forward on dug-up roads, and pedestrians trying to figure out which direction is safest to cross. In this constant disorder, the idea of a digital traffic enforcement system almost sounds comforting, a promise that maybe, finally, someone is watching, someone is organizing, someone is trying.
So, when the e-traffic challan system was announced, many people, including myself, saw it as a necessary step toward modernization. Cameras instead of arguments. Automated fines instead of on-the-spot negotiations. Less human discretion, less corruption, more transparency. It all made sense. And truthfully, it still does. The intention behind the system is not the problem, it is timely, relevant, and long overdue. But the challenge lies in how it has been introduced and the realities of the city it has been introduced into.
Because while Karachi may have the appetite for reform, its infrastructure is still struggling to keep up with its ambitions. And this gap between the ideal system and the imperfect city is where the cracks begin to show.
The burden first falls on citizens. For most Karachiites, cars and motorcycles are not luxuries; they are survival tools. People invest everything they have in old, struggling vehicles whose headlights flicker, whose speedometers fail, whose maintenance they cannot afford because they are already choosing between petrol and groceries. When such people receive fines, worth thousands sometimes doubled if they didn’t know it existed because of digital illiteracy, it is not “reform.” It is punishment for being poor. Many people have no idea how to check their challans online or how to navigate apps. Some don’t even understand the English printed on the notice. How is that fair in a city where most people barely have reliable internet, let alone digital awareness?
Women face an even more complicated reality. In a city where harassment is a daily threat, many women tint their car windows not for style but for safety. Yet now, these same women are fined for doing the very thing that protects them. And if the challan is wrong, what are they supposed to do? Visit a police station alone? Stand in long queues? Put themselves in uncomfortable or unsafe environments? The system offers them no separate, protected, or accessible way to dispute errors. Technology may be neutral, but the city it operates in is not, it treats women differently, and any fair system must acknowledge that.
Traffic police say that the new system runs on fear, responsibility, and accountability. Fear of being caught by cameras, responsibility created by that fear, and accountability because the violation is recorded. But accountability cannot be one-sided. How does a driver follow a traffic light that isn’t working? How does someone respect lane markings when the city doesn’t have any? How do you enforce rules on roads that are dug up every few weeks, where diversions, broken signage, and sudden potholes force drivers into mistakes? You cannot impose strict fines on a city without first giving it the conditions to obey the rules.
It has been argued within political circles that the fines are excessive and even discriminatory, especially compared with Lahore. At times, the system feels more like a revenue-generating mechanism than genuine traffic reform. And honestly, the numbers raise eyebrows, crores collected in just weeks. Speed-limit signs installed only after fines were already issued. Cars parked at home still receiving challans. People getting fined for vehicles they sold years ago because databases were outdated. Instead of restoring trust, this creates the impression that the system was implemented hurriedly almost eagerly without fixing the basics.
I have come across a slogan suddenly feels very relevant: “Kamao gey to kya lagao gey bhi?” If people are struggling to earn enough to survive, how will they pay repeated penalties? If a person’s CNIC is blocked because of unpaid challans, they cannot access jobs, banking services, or government records. That doesn’t improve mobility; it destroys livelihoods. When mobility suffers, so do employment opportunities. When trust breaks, citizens disengage. When enforcement feels like extortion, people begin to fear the system rather than respect it.
None of this means e-challans are a bad idea. Karachi desperately needs safer roads, reduced corruption, and transparent enforcement. Digitization can absolutely fix many long-standing problems but not when rushed, not without public awareness, not without accurate databases, and not without reliable infrastructure. A digital system placed on top of a broken physical environment will always malfunction.
The solution is not to abandon the system but to slow down and implement it in phases. Fix streetlights before fining people for signal violations. Repair roads before enforcing lane discipline. Educate the public before blocking their CNICs. Create safe and accessible spaces for women and vulnerable citizens to contest challans. Give people time to understand the transition and update records before issuing harsh penalties. Reform must help citizens, not trap them.
Karachi is ready for modernization but modernization must be fair. It must protect, not punish. It must feel like progress, not pressure. Until then, e-challans will continue to feel less like a safety initiative and more like a quick way to make money in a city already carrying too many burdens. A system meant to bring order should not become another reason for fear. A truly safe city cannot be built through penalties alone, but through compassion, planning, and trust.
Written By: Hafsa Nisar
