Ahmedabad Traffic Fines Surge in 2025: Helmetless Driving Tops Offences

Scale of Penalties

In 2025, traffic violations in Ahmedabad reached unprecedented levels, with 40.2 lakh citizens paying fines amounting to ₹262.6 crore. This means nearly every second resident faced penalties for traffic offences. On average, 11,010 people were fined daily, with the per‑challan amount standing at ₹653.

Helmetless Driving Dominates

The most common violation was riding without a helmet, which alone accounted for ₹134.4 crore in fines. A staggering 26.9 lakh residents were penalized for this offence, marking a 166% increase compared to 10.1 lakh cases in 2024. Despite repeated reprimands from the Gujarat High Court, compliance with helmet rules remains alarmingly low.

Other Major Offences

• Wrong‑side driving: ₹36.3 crore in fines, with challans rising 290% from 45,446 in 2024 to 1.8 lakh in 2025.

• Illegal parking: ₹34.7 crore collected.

• Overloading: 21,331 challans issued, up 309% from 5,219 in 2024.

• Underage driving: 5,835 cases registered, compared to just 11 in 2024. This translates to 16 minors caught daily, a sharp rise in juvenile violations.

Decline in Certain Violations

Interestingly, some offences saw a decline. Cases of driving without a licence dropped to 27,576 in 2025 from 32,209 in 2024. Similarly, violations such as signal jumping and driving without permits also recorded fewer instances.

Context and Impact

With Ahmedabad’s population estimated at 76 lakh in 2025 (UN’s World Urbanization Prospects), the data implies that every third resident paid a fine for helmetless driving alone. The total fines collected exceeded the budget recently approved for constructing the new Subhash Bridge over the Sabarmati River, underscoring the massive scale of penalties.

Officials attribute the surge to intensified crackdowns by traffic police, following directives from the High Court to enforce stricter compliance with road safety rules.