Nepal Traffic Fines and Rules: What Each Violation Costs and How to Pay Online

Traffic fines in Nepal are issued as an e-challan — a digital chit — and you can check and pay yours from your phone without going anywhere. Most people do not know that, and pay late or in person for no reason.

This page covers what the common violations cost, how to check and pay, and the rules behind the fines. Those rules are also a large part of the driving licence written exam, so if you are studying, this doubles as revision.

The official source

Nepal Police publishes the violation and fine list:

traffic.nepalpolice.gov.np/notices/violation-and-fine/

Read the numbers below as reported figures in circulation, not as law. Fine amounts get revised, and enforcement varies by district. The Nepal Police page is the authority; this is here so you know roughly what to expect.

Common violations and reported fines

Two of those deserve more than a number.

Drink driving is enforced with zero tolerance through roadside MaPaSe checks. The fine is the least of it — the licence action and the accident risk are the real cost. There is no safe amount and no "just one".

Riding without a helmet applies to the pillion passenger as well as the rider. Carrying a friend without a helmet is your fine, not theirs.

How to check and pay your fine

An e-challan carries a chit number. With that, you have three routes, all of them faster than a queue.

The steps are the same everywhere:

1. Choose the traffic fine service.
2. Enter the fiscal year and the chit number from your challan, or scan the QR code on it.
3. Check the details match your vehicle before you pay.
4. Pay, then download and keep the receipt.

Pay within the window on the challan — a 60-day limit is commonly reported — or a penalty is added on top.

The rules the fines are based on

These are also examined in the likhit, so they are worth knowing properly rather than just avoiding.

Which side, and overtaking. Nepal drives on the left. You overtake on the right. Never overtake on a bend, on a bridge, or at a pedestrian crossing.

Speed. Commonly examined limits are 40 km/h in built-up areas and 80 km/h on highways. A signposted limit always beats a remembered one.

Helmets and seatbelts. Helmet for rider and pillion. Seatbelt for driver and front passenger. Airbags work with a belt, not instead of one.

Documents you must carry. Licence, bluebook (vehicle registration) and insurance. Commercial vehicles also need a route permit.

Phones. Not while driving. This is one of the questions the written exam asks in several forms, and the answer is always the same.

Traffic police override signals. A hand signal from a traffic police officer beats the traffic light. That is on the exam too.

The law itself sits in the Vehicles and Transport Management Act, 2049 and the Ride and Traffic Management Rules, 2054, both published by DOTM:

dotm.gov.np/content/13/vehicles-and-transport-act-2049-/
dotm.gov.np/content/15/ride-and-traffic-management-rules--2054/

If you think the fine is wrong

It happens — wrong plate number, wrong vehicle, a challan for a vehicle you sold.

• Do not just ignore it. Unpaid fines follow the vehicle and surface when you renew registration or transfer ownership.
• Check the challan details first. Plate, date, place, violation.
• Take it up with the traffic office that issued it, with your bluebook and licence.
• If you sold the vehicle, this is what ownership transfer (नामसारी) is for. Until the transfer is done, the record still points at you. That service is on your province portal. More on the portals.

Fines and your licence

A fine is a fine, but two situations bite harder:

• Driving without a valid licence is a separate offence from any other. An expired card counts. There is a 35-day grace period after expiry for renewal, and it does not make driving on the expired card safe. Renewal and the grace period.
• Driving a category you do not hold — a car on an A-only licence, or commercial work on a private B — is treated as driving without the correct licence. What each category allows.

These rules are on the exam

If you are reading this before you have a licence, everything above is examinable material. The written exam draws from a published DOTM bank of about 500 questions, and traffic rules and law are its largest section.

I built Yatayat Likhit to work through that bank properly: every question with the reason next to the answer, tracking of what you keep getting wrong, timed mocks in the exam format, the Nepali road signs, trial checklists, and an Ishihara-style colour-vision test for the medical. Free, offline, Nepali and English, for categories A, K and B.

Get it: Yatayat Likhit — free on iPhone and Android. The link opens your own app store.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring a challan. It attaches to the vehicle and resurfaces at renewal or transfer.
• Paying in person when the Nagarik App, eSewa or Khalti would take two minutes.
• Losing the chit. The chit number is what every payment route asks for.
• Not keeping the receipt.
• Assuming the pillion helmet is optional. It is not.
• Selling a vehicle without transferring ownership. Every later fine is still yours on paper.

Vehicle tax is separate

People conflate the two, so worth stating plainly: a traffic fine is a penalty from the police for something you did. Vehicle tax is an annual charge on the vehicle itself, paid to your province.

Both now live online, but in different places:

• Fines — Nagarik App, eSewa or Khalti, using the chit number.
• Tax — your province eDLVRS portal, under कर भुक्तानी तथा रसिद (tax payment and receipt).

Unpaid tax blocks things that unpaid fines also block: renewal of registration, and ownership transfer. If you are buying a used vehicle, check both are clear before money changes hands, because after the transfer they become yours.

Insurance and the documents check

Third-party insurance is one of the documents you must be able to produce, along with the licence and the bluebook. A roadside check that finds no insurance is a separate problem from any fine you were stopped for.

Keep all three together and current:

Photograph all three and keep the images somewhere you can reach without the originals. It will not satisfy a checkpoint on its own, but it makes replacing any of them far easier.

Questions people ask

How do I pay a traffic fine online in Nepal?

Through the Nagarik App, eSewa or Khalti. Choose the traffic fine service, enter the fiscal year and chit number from your challan or scan its QR code, pay, and save the receipt.

What is the fine for not wearing a helmet in Nepal?

Reported at NPR 500, and it applies to the pillion passenger as well as the rider. Check the Nepal Police list for the current figure.

What is the fine for drink driving in Nepal?

Reported at NPR 1,000, enforced with zero tolerance at MaPaSe checks. The licence consequences matter more than the amount.

How long do I have to pay a traffic fine?

A 60-day window is commonly reported. Paying late adds a penalty, and unpaid fines follow the vehicle.

Where is the official Nepal traffic fine list?

Nepal Police publishes it at traffic.nepalpolice.gov.np/notices/violation-and-fine/.

Do unpaid traffic fines affect my licence renewal?

They attach to the vehicle rather than the licence, and surface when you renew registration or transfer ownership. Clear them before either.

I sold my vehicle but I am still getting fines. Why?

Because ownership transfer (नामसारी) has not been completed. Until it is, the record still points at you. That service is on your province portal.

Can I pay someone else's fine with their chit number?

Yes. The payment routes only need the fiscal year and chit number, so a family member can clear it for you. Keep the receipt either way.

Are traffic fines the same across Nepal?

Enforcement and revision vary by district, which is why this page gives reported ranges. The Nepal Police list is the authority for the current figures.

Keep reading

• What the likhit question bank asks — rules and law are its largest section.
• Every traffic sign, by shape — the signs behind the rules.
• Licence categories — driving a category you do not hold is its own offence.
• Renewal and the grace period — before an expired card becomes a fine.
• Your province portal — ownership transfer and the rest.