77-year-old doctor owns car, gets e-challans for two autos in Mumbai

While the doctor, has written several complaints to the concerned authorities, no action has been taken yet. Abhay Deshpande, regional transport officer at Andheri RTO, however, said the problem will be rectified soon.

When Dr Anilkumar Bhoweer, a 77-year-old dentist from Matunga, linked his new mobile number with his car records at the Andheri regional transport office (RTO) in April, little did he know the harassment he would have to face. Since April, Bhoweer, who has a car, has been constantly receiving e-challan notifications on his phone for repeated traffic violations by two auto-rickshaws he does not own.

Dr Anilkumar Bhoweer, a 77-year-old dentist from Matunga who has a car, has been constantly receiving e-challan notifications on his phone for repeated traffic violations by two auto-rickshaws he does not own. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

While Bhoweer, has written several complaints to the concerned authorities, no action has been taken yet. Abhay Deshpande, regional transport officer at Andheri RTO, however, said the problem will be rectified soon.

The dentist said he started receiving these messages from the traffic department from April 22, after he replaced his old number with the new one at Andheri RTO. The challans were for repeated traffic violations by two autos, MH02EF7238 and MH02DK2513. “I was shocked to get the message the first time as my car was parked in my garage for eight to 10 days and was not even taken on the roads,” he said

Bhoweer said he wrote to several authorities, including the Mumbai traffic police and the Andheri RTO, several times, but no action has been taken. He has received more than 15 messages since April. The 77-year-old said he even visited the traffic police headquarters at Worli and the Andheri RTO.

“I have tried writing to the authorities that I am a doctor and I don’t own an auto and I am not an auto driver. I am totally fed up with this constant harassment. It is adversely affecting my health,” said Bhoweer.

Abhay Deshpande said they have received Bhoweer’s complaints. “We will immediately rectify the mobile number and ensure he does not receive such messages,” he said. The Mumbai traffic police, however, could not be reached for a comment.

Another RTO official said this is a recurring complaint. He said many vehicle owners get to know about pending e-challans after reaching the RTO or the traffic police department.

Moreover, RTO officials said that they cannot rectify wrong mobile numbers in their records until they replace it with another number. They said that the department should appeal to people to update their correct numbers on RTO records to avoid trouble.