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Mumbai traffic cops set to auction 350 seized vehicles this week
The city traffic police seized 1,500 abandoned vehicles between October 2018 and February this year, said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic). The crackdown was initiated following a July 2018 Bombay high court (HC) order, directing the police to remove vehicles that had been parked in no-parking zones for more than 10 hours.
The city traffic police is set to auction 350 abandoned vehicles that it had seized from October 2018 to February this year.
The e-auction will be conducted in collaboration with a state-owned e-commerce company, Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC).
The ‘auction catalogue’ will be uploaded on the MSTC website this week. “We had carried out a similar e-auction for abandoned vehicles in Chennai last year. The same will be done in Mumbai,” said an MSTC officer.
The city traffic police seized 1,500 abandoned vehicles between October 2018 and February this year, said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic). The crackdown was initiated following a July 2018 Bombay high court (HC) order, directing the police to remove vehicles that had been parked in no-parking zones for more than 10 hours.
“We sent notices to the owners of the abandoned vehicles to come forward. After we didn’t get any response and we completed other formalities, we decided to auction 350 vehicles,” Kumar said.
Of these, around 140 vehicles are at least 10 years old, said Kumar. “Most of the vehicles that will be bought are likely to be crushed and used for the metal parts,” he added. The traffic police believe this exercise will help clear public space.
When the traffic police spot an abandoned vehicle, they first contact the regional transport department to get details about the vehicle owner. They then send a notice to the owner.
If the owner fails to come forward, the police then contact the concerned police station and send a second notice. If the owner still fails to respond, the vehicle is seized. They then approach the court to either scrap or auction the vehicle. The process takes around six to eight months, throughout the duration of which the cops have to park and maintain the vehicle.
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