13,703 Drink-Drive Challans; Suspensions Stall

GURUGRAM: Traffic police booked 13,703 motorists for drunk driving between January and August, yet licence suspensions recorded after May fell to none in the data placed before the district road safety committee, even as checkposts multiplied across the city.

Figures shared with the committee show that of 6,658 drink-driving challans from January to April, 2,349 cases led to suspensions. That was more than one in three bookings in the first four months. Of those suspensions, 813 involved vehicles registered with Gurugram's Regional Transport Authority and 1,536 involved vehicles registered outside the city.

After May, the suspension column went quiet. The committee has directed the Regional Transport Authority and traffic police to resume regular suspension of licences for violators. Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, allows a licensing authority to act when it is satisfied that an offender fits the statutory grounds, and district protocols revised in October 2025 provide for three-month temporary suspensions in applicable cases.

Enforcement on the road has not slowed in the same way. Traffic police increased drink-driving checkposts from four to 25 within two months. Monthly challans rose from 1,314 in January to 2,371 in May before easing to 1,420 in August. Full-year comparisons remain steep: police issued 26,287 such challans in 2024 and 26,305 in 2025. The 2026 tally through August already shows a heavy mid-year load.

The mismatch between challans and suspensions matters because a fine alone rarely keeps a repeat offender off the night corridor. Suspension is the step that removes legal driving rights for a defined period. When that step stalls, the deterrent advertised at nakas weakens even if breath analysers stay busy. Officers have earlier pointed to coordination and software friction between the police e-challan chain and the licence database as a reason files move slowly, forcing manual verification and backlog.

For commuters on Golf Course Road, the expressway edges and other night corridors, the visible change is the denser checkpost grid. The less visible change is whether a challan issued in June or July actually reaches a suspension order. The road safety committee's direction puts that administrative handoff back on the RTA and traffic police task list.

Road safety numbers in the district have little room for soft follow-up. Pedestrian deaths and overall crash counts have stayed under scrutiny in recent committee reviews, and drink-driving remains one of the behaviours officers cite at night nakas. A city that can raise checkposts to 25 should also be able to show a matching suspension ledger after May.

The Monday reading of the data is blunt. Challans continue. Suspensions after May do not, on the figures tabled. Until the RTA and traffic police close that gap, Gurugram's drink-driving drive will look strong at the roadside and incomplete in the licence record.