28/06/2026
ππ‘π 'ππ ππ«ππππ’π ππ²π¬πππ¦' ππ‘ππ πππ―ππ« πππ§ππ ππ¬ ππ«ππππ’π:
Sikkim has always prided itself on being a forward-thinking state β clean, progressive, and deeply connected to the welfare of its people. We were among the first to embrace organic farming, eco-tourism, and sustainable development. So when we heard that an "AI-powered traffic management system" was being introduced in our state, many of us felt a quiet sense of optimism. Perhaps, we thought, technology had finally arrived to ease our daily commute, reduce road accidents, or streamline the chaos at busy intersections.
That optimism did not last long.
What has actually been deployed in the name of 'AI traffic management' is not a system that manages traffic at all. It is, by all practical accounts, an automated e-challan machine β a fine-collection engine β that penalises vehicle owners for expired road tax, lapsed insurance, overdue fitness certificates, and other documentation irregularities. It does not reduce congestion. It does not prevent accidents. It does not make the roads of Sikkim safer or more efficient.
What it does, with remarkable precision, is generate revenue β at the expense of ordinary Sikkimese citizens.
A System Designed to Punish, Not to Protect
This system is operated by PD Global, a Kolkata-based private company. Let that fact sink in: a private, out-of-state corporation has been handed the authority β or at least the mechanism β to issue automated challans to the people of Sikkim. Citizens are being fined through this system and, in many cases, are also being required to pay separately at the Regional Transport Office (RTO). In other words, people are paying twice for the same lapse.
This is not governance. This is a business model built on public inconvenience.
The hardworking farmers, small traders, daily wage earners, and young professionals of our state are being ambushed by fines they never saw coming β not because they are irresponsible, but because no one warned them. A hardworking daily commuter in Gangtok or a taxi driver ferrying tourists through the winding roads of North Sikkim is not an expert in renewal deadlines. Documents like road tax, insurance, and fitness certificates have different expiry cycles, different issuing authorities, and different renewal procedures. Without timely reminders, lapses are almost inevitable.
The Motor Vehicle Amendment Act Demands More
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 was introduced with the explicit intent of making India's roads safer and transportation fairer. It envisions technology as a tool of convenience and protection β not punishment. The spirit of the Act is unambiguous: reform through awareness, compliance through facilitation, and enforcement only where all else fails.
The deployment of an automated challan system without any corresponding notification mechanism is not in the spirit of this legislation. When a system exists solely to catch and fine β without first informing β it twists the intent of the law into something unrecognisable. It turns a protective framework into a punitive trap.
We, the citizens of Sikkim, ask: where is our right to be informed? Where is our right to comply before being penalised?
What Genuine AI-Driven Governance Would Look Like
We are not against technology. We are not against AI. We are not even against enforcement when it is fair and transparent. What we are against is the weaponisation of technology against the very people it claims to serve.
A genuinely citizen-centric AI traffic management system would:
1. Send automated SMS, email, or WhatsApp notifications to every registered vehicle owner at least 30 days before the expiry of road tax, insurance, fitness certificate, or any other required document.
2. Send a second reminder 15 days before expiry and a final alert on the day of expiry.
3. Provide easy, digital pathways for citizens to renew their documents β integrated into the same system that monitors expiry.
4. Only issue challans after the notification period has passed and the document remains unrenewed β giving citizens a fair opportunity to comply.
5. Ensure that challans issued through the AI system are not duplicated at the RTO β one fine for one lapse, not two.
6. Be fully transparent about the data it collects, how challans are computed, and how collected fines are utilised for public benefit in Sikkim.
This is not an unreasonable demand. This is the bare minimum of what 'smart governance' should mean. Every other meaningful digital service β from bank loan reminders to mobile recharge alerts β proactively notifies users before a deadline. A government system has an even greater obligation to do so.
Public infrastructure β and increasingly, public digital infrastructure β cannot be handed over to private entities without robust accountability mechanisms. When the people of Sikkim are on the receiving end of automated penalties, they have the right to know who is responsible, and who they can appeal to.
Sikkim Deserves Better
Ours is a small state. Our population is modest, but our expectations from our government are not small β they are rooted in decades of trust, community, and a shared commitment to the well-being of every Sikkimese.
We are not opposed to digital transformation. We welcome it. But technology deployed in the service of government must serve the governed first. An AI system that knows when your documents are about to expire β but chooses to tell no one until the fine is already issued β is not AI working for the people. It is AI working against them.
We urge the Sikkim government to immediately mandate that the system include proactive citizen notification β at minimum one month before any document expiry. We urge a review of the double-penalty situation affecting thousands of vehicle owners. And we urge that any future deployment of AI in public service be evaluated not by how much revenue it can extract, but by how much convenience, safety, and dignity it brings to the people of Sikkim.
Because a government that fine-tunes its technology to extract fines before it fine-tunes it to protect its citizens has confused the purpose of governance altogether.
Concerned Citizens of Sikkim
