Traffic police personnel collecting fines from violators who come to pay, in Bengaluru on Friday. , Photo credits: K. Murali Kumar
The state government’s initiative of providing 50% discount in pending e-challan cases of traffic violations has been a super hit in the city. On the first day of the relaxation, which will be in force till February 11, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) ₹ 5.61 crore generated in 2.01 lakh cases,
“The response to this one-time measure has been huge. On an average, we got a hit almost every 16 nanoseconds,” said MN Anucheth, Joint Commissioner, Traffic. The BTP alone accounts for over 80% of the backlog of cases across the state and was expected to generate ₹500 crore from the pending compliance of over 2 crore cases, for which there is now a 50% exemption.
People queue up to pay long pending traffic fines
People queue up to pay long pending traffic fines after the government announced 50% waiver, in Bengaluru on February 3, 2023. , Video Credits: K Murali Kumar
All the traffic police stations in the city were packed, the Karnatakavan website, where payments were to be made, and the BTP website and mobile app crashed. More than half the payments today were done on the PayTM app. While there was some criticism over BTP’s tie-up with PayTM, it was the digital payments platform that has been the most accessible for many to clear their dues with discounts, the data shows. “All the payment gateways hosted by the government do not have the means to host so many hits at once,” said a senior official.
After PayTM where 1.04 lakh cases were resolved, the next avenue where motorists paid their dues was at traffic police stations – 89,699 cases. “All these days when we were chasing them, trying to fine them, they were elusive and not paying. Now they are chasing us today to clear their dues,” quipped a traffic policeman.
Motorists welcome the move but point out concerns
A Twitter user Arvind said, “I have given my clarification. Here’s the thing. I had four pending. Two were valid and two were not. I was trying to fight to make sure the wrong ones were removed.” But I couldn’t. The offer was fair to me, so I went ahead and succeeded without hesitation. Nice one BTP.
“It is a good resolution taken by the government to settle the old issues. But I have a concern and also a request here. Thousands of violations have been wrongly registered by policemen. Why should the vehicle owner pay for it? This offer is in a way forcing such people to pay.”
‘Better not to break the rules’
MA Saleem, Special Commissioner (Traffic) said that despite paying the fine, the motive of the motorists should not be traffic violation. “They should not violate traffic rules as registering cases and paying fines are not the signs of a healthy society. If there is no violation, we can better focus on traffic regulation and ensure smooth flow of traffic on the road, which is our main objective.