The citizens of Pune have failed to make payments on 80 per cent of traffic violation cases registered in the city in the past year, despite a lockdown in place.
The per cent of unpaid fines for traffic violations has gone up from 64.34 per cent in 2019 to 79.59 per cent in the second week of December 2020.
The number of cases of traffic rule violations has reduced, however, by a thin margin in 2020 as compared to 2019 and 2018, according to data provided by Rahul Shrirame, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), traffic, Pune.
“The unpaid fines this year are almost 80 per cent as per the data. The amount of the unpaid fines is Rs 59,96,12,400 and the collection of paid fines was Rs 15,37,10,853 since January 1. The maximum number of cases are for no parking, helmet use, signal jumping,” said DCP Shrirame on Thursday.
Even though the annual number of cases is less than the past two years owing to the vehicle movement restriction during the lockdown, the number of annual cases in which the fines have remained unpaid has remained constant. At the end of 2019, 14,67,211 violations were unpaid for.
A traffic police official pointed out that there are multiple issues with the data used for sending information about violations to violators.
{{/usCountry}}A traffic police official pointed out that there are multiple issues with the data used for sending information about violations to violators.
{{/usCountry}}For example, the contact information is missing, or the number seen in the online system is misread by traffic officials sending the message. While the traffic police officials blame the regional transport office (RTO), the RTO officials have a different story to tell.
“The data is not provided by us. The National Information Centre (NIC), through the road transport ministry is the custodian and provider of that data. We do get the data when new vehicles are registered. But, the under V4 system, which has been in place since April 1, 2019, every government agency involved in the process has access to it,” said Sanjay Sasane, deputy regional transport officer, Pune.
The vehicle numbers which were purchased before 2007, and are still owned by the same person, are yet to be digitised. Therefore, those numbers are missing from the RTO and police’s online system.
“We could not finalise an agency to undertake that task. If those numbers have been transferred, they have entered the system. However, the ones which are still in the same person’s name as in 2007, are yet to be digitised. If the police find such numbers in violation and are not able to find their contact details, they can send the numbers to us and we will manually find and digitise them immediately,” said Sasane.
The numbers which are charged for traffic rule violations, and have remained unpaid, can face action as it can reflect on their vehicle record.
The traffic police or the RTO officials, either one of them can mark the vehicle number owner as “wanted”, according to RTO officials.
“The police can themselves mark it as wanted. But if they send us the license numbers, we can mark them too. Upon request from the police, we can also cancel the license,” said Sasane.
When the violator has to undertake any routine work like license renewal, insurance renewal, transfer of ownership done, the violations committed using those numbers in any part of the state will reflect on their registration numbers.
According to said Prashant Inamdar, convener of a citizen group called “Pedestrian First”, most of these fines must be e-challans.
“When traffic police put a nakabandi, the pending fines are paid. There could be a reluctance to pay fines but there are 2-3 aspects that need attention. I am not sure whether the police have the mechanism which smoothly delivers the challan for the violation to the offender. This must be the biggest reason for the non-payment of fines. The RTO data for contact details of offenders is most likely insufficient and not getting updated. The physical delivery of the challans and delivery of it on the phone number need robust, updated information. There is also a possibility that the people who have received the intimation do not pay, but a major issue is whether the challan is falling in the right hands within a reasonable time period. There needs to be a fool-proof result-oriented delivery system to solve this issue,” Inamdar said.
Do you have a pending fine on your vehicle?
-If you are not sure about whether there is a fine on your vehicle or not, go to mahatrafficechallan.gov.in and check your vehicle number
-Make sure to check the image attached with the violation, if there is one against it, and make sure it is your vehicle and location in the image
-If the fine is verified, pay it and clear your dues
-Payment can be made using online payment options or approach a traffic police official deployed on the street and swipe your debit card
-If the fine is not verified, send details of the fine to cctvtrafficpune@gmail.com. The police will reverse the fine.
Header: Breakup of violations and dues
Info: The amount of the unpaid fine is Rs 59,96,12,400 and the collection of paid fines was Rs 15,37,10,853 since January 1. The maximum number of cases are for no parking, helmet use, and signal jumping.
2018
Total
Cases: 1,535,844
Amount: Rs 38.2 crore
Unpaid
Cases: 6,47,127
Amount: Rs 16.9 crore
Paid
Cases:8,88,717
Amount: Rs 21.2 crore
2019
Total
Cases: 2,50,3607
Amount: Rs 109.7 crore
Unpaid
Cases:1467211
Amount: Rs 70.6 crore
Paid
Cases: 1036396
Amount: Rs 39.1 crore
2020
Total
Cases: 1958516
Amount: Rs 75.3 crore
Unpaid
Cases: 1420892
Amount: Rs 59.9 crore
Paid
Cases: 537624
Amount: Rs 15.3 crore
THE POPULAR VIOLATIONS
No parking
2018
Cases: 2,40,933
Amount: Rs 4.81 crore
2019
Cases: 3,23,074
Amount: Rs 6.47 crore
2020
Cases: 95,812
Amount: Rs 1.91 crore
No helmet
2018
Cases: 79,035
Amount: Rs 3.95 crore
2019
Cases: 17,05,915
Amount: Rs 85.2 crore
2020
Cases: 3,73,257
Amount: Rs 18.66 crore
Signal jumping
2018
Cases: 1,60,861
Amount: Rs 3.2 crore
2019
Cases: 75,134
Amount: Rs 1.5 crore
2020
Cases: 34,124
Amount: Rs 68.2 lakhs
Mobile use while riding/driving
2018
Cases: 54,129
Amount: Rs 1.08 crore
2019
Cases: 19,299
Amount: Rs 38.5 lakh
2020
Cases: 6,778
Amount: Rs 13.5 lakh