In a startling revelation, more than 23% of challans by the traffic police department issued to motorists for violating various traffic rules have remained unpaid by offenders in the past 22 months. As per statistics sourced out from the traffic department attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police, a total of 3,44,327 challans were issued by the traffic police from January 2022 to September 2023, the fines payable against which stands at more than Rs20.17 crore. While 2,63,532 offenders have cleared challans by paying more than Rs14.12 crore, 80,795 challans amounting more than Rs6.05 crore have remained unpaid.
“Although the number of unpaid challans hovers above 20%, our traffic wing is amongst top in terms of recovery as compared to other counterparts in the state. We are also trying our level best to reduce the burden of unpaid dues by recovering past penalties with the help of e-challan devices armed with global positioning system (GPS), which enables electronic challan system to collect fine on the spot.” said DCP Prakash Gaikwad.
E-challans generated either by ANPR cameras or traffic police personnel at CCC
Apart from manual penalty, 639 e-challans have been generated either by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras or by traffic police personnel watching camera footage at the command and control center (CCC) set up by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) in Bhayandar East since April, 2023. Most of the cases are related to signal jumping, talking on a mobile phone or driving without seatbelts, helmetless and triple seat riding.
.jpg)
.avif)
Notably, several motorists who have been penalised are said to be repeat offenders. Apart from 198 wardens, the Kashimira traffic unit has a staff strength of 105 including four officers and 101 personnel who armed with 60 hand held e-challan devices. Meanwhile, the traffic police in association with the civic administration have chalked out an elaborate plan to enhance its CCTV camera mechanism across the twin-city. The traffic police department is empowered to file court cases against violators who do not pay the fines.
