This read-only counter tallies the total number of minutes during which the channel experienced congestion. Admins track this as a direct measure of how often a specific connection has been bandwidth-constrained, useful for identifying chronically congested channels that may need more queue depth, a higher service rate, or rerouting. For example, a channel accumulating chanCongestMinutes steadily every reporting period, unlike its peers, would flag itself as a candidate for a bandwidth upgrade or traffic-shaping adjustment.