Now Paytm your way through a traffic challan

Fret not next time you get hauled up by a traffic police officer and handed a ticket. Now you can pay for a challan with a few taps on the mobile phone.

Paytm has launched a traffic challan payment vertical on its platform. The service is currently live in Mumbai, Pune and Vijayawada, and will be expanded to other cities soon. The company believes that it would be able to funnel through at least five million challans nationwide with a value of Rs 150 crore per year.

"Vehicle owners can now log onto Paytm, tap on 'Traffic Challan', enter their vehicle number, and after verifying the details, proceed to pay for the challan. This will generate a digital invoice and the customer's surrendered documents will be dispatched via postal services by the respective police department," Kiran Vasireddy, senior vice president, Paytm said.

Paytm has currently partnered with state police forces across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and West Bengal. Going forward, it will continue to forge partnerships with many more police departments across India.

The company is also planning to expand this market and add different types of fine payments into the system. "We will cover all payments use-cases in the coming months," the company said.