look news india
During a routine check by the traffic police in Gurugram, the hi-tech industrial and IT hub of Haryana, known as the Millennium City, an incredible and eye-opening case has come to light, which has stunned both the police officers and the general public. Traffic policemen issue challans to hundreds of rule-breaking vehicles every day at the busiest intersections like Delhi-Jaipur National Highway (NH-48), Shankar Chowk, IFFCO Chowk and Golf Course Road, but what appeared on the screen while checking the documents and history of an ordinary two-wheeler broke all the old records of the city. When the police stopped a bike rider suspected of ignoring traffic rules and entered the registration number of that bike in the e-challan handheld device, an endless list of pending challans opened up in red letters on the screen. The system showed that not one or two, but 50 unpaid traffic challans were pending on this single two-wheeler and the cumulative amount of fine imposed on these challans had reached ₹3,22,500 (approximately Rs 3.22 lakh). The traffic zonal officer and constable deployed at the spot were stunned to see this figure, because this is probably the largest and shocking official record of pending fine on any two-wheeler in the history of Gurugram.
When police officials deeply analyzed the details and time-stamps of these 50 pending bike challans, it became clear that this was not the result of any inadvertent technical lapse, but a series of criminal negligence by the driver, disregarding the law. Complete details of the challans revealed that the bike driver had openly flouted traffic rules at almost every major junction of the cyber city during the last one and a half to two years. The largest number of these 50 violations were signal jumping (red light violations), where the driver crossed the red light multiple times at high speed. Apart from this, serious sections like dangerous driving without helmet, wrong side driving, tripling, overspeeding and creating a deadly obstruction to other pedestrians on public roads were included. Many of these challans were also registered under Rush and Dangerous Driving, in which heavy fines are imposed by the court. According to Gurugram traffic police records, most of these challans were generated online on the basis of pictures captured by automatic traffic surveillance cameras, which the vehicle owner continued to ignore and fearlessly continued speeding on the city roads on the same bike.
The most ironic and dramatic aspect of this whole matter is related to the economic comparison. The current resale value of the motorcycle on which a government fine of Rs 3.22 lakh was imposed is barely around Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 in the market, whereas the showroom price of such a bike even in new condition does not exceed Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000. That means the fine imposed on the bike was almost four to five times more than its actual market value. When the traffic police officials showed the driver the total of his e-challan portal and told him that legally he now has to deposit Rs 3.22 lakh in the government treasury, the ground slipped from under the driver’s feet. The driver folded his hands and pleaded for forgiveness and a small challan to be released, but considering the seriousness of the matter, the police flatly refused to give any kind of concession. Under the strict sections of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the police cut the impound memo on the spot and seized the bike with the help of a crane in the yard of the nearest traffic police station. The officials made it clear that the vehicle will not be released under any circumstances until the fine is settled through the court.
This sensational case is a living proof that the traffic monitoring system in Delhi-NCR has now changed from traditional baton-whistle policing to completely Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital surveillance. Under the Gurugram Smart City project, GMDA (Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority) has laid an impenetrable network of Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras across the city. Cameras with 4K resolution are operational round the clock at key strategic points like Cyber Hub, Subhash Chowk, Vatika Chowk, HUDA City Center and Sohna Elevated Road. These cameras instantly scan the number plates of vehicles crossing zebra crossings, breaking stop lines, driving while talking on mobile or turning in the wrong direction, much faster than the human eye. The camera data goes directly to the Central Command and Control Center (ICCC), from where the digital notice of e-challan is sent to the owner’s mobile phone, directly linked to the National ‘Vahan and Sarathi’ database, without any human intervention. This incident has given a clear message that if any driver thinks that he will get away because there is no policeman present on the road, then it is a big misconception because the digital cameras installed in the sky are keeping an eye on his every movement every second.
While the seizure has highlighted the promptness of the traffic police, it has also brought to the center of public debate a serious flaw and loophole in the country’s digital traffic enforcement mechanism. Common citizens and road safety experts have a legitimate question that how did a vehicle roam freely on the roads for months despite breaking rules 50 times and not paying fines worth lakhs of rupees? When more than 5 or 10 challans are pending on a vehicle, the algorithm of the Vahan portal should have automatically put that vehicle in the ‘red flag’ or blacklist category, thereby providing real-time alerts to the police from the Fastag reader and surveillance system installed at any toll plaza, parking or petrol pump. Experts believe that merely generating challan online and sending SMS on mobile cannot ensure road safety, as people who habitually break rules often ignore these messages. After this incident, Gurugram Traffic Police has now announced that they are preparing a centralized auto-tracking software which will identify vehicles with more than 5 unpaid challans and immediately send live location alerts to PCR vans and interceptor teams deployed on the roads so that such vehicles can be seized in the first round.
This incident in Gurugram has raised a serious alarm bell for lakhs of drivers across Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad and surrounding areas of Uttar Pradesh. Under the new rules of the Motor Vehicle Act, if a driver does not pay his e-challan on time, the Transport Department can suspend or permanently cancel the RC (Registration Certificate) of his vehicle. Neither Pollution Certificate (PUC) can be made for such vehicles, nor can the insurance be renewed, nor can that vehicle be sold or transferred to any other person in future. Further, after the expiry of the stipulated deadline, all unpaid challans are directly transferred to the Judicial Magistrate or ‘Virtual Court’. If the fine is not paid even after the court summons, the court can issue a warrant for property attachment or a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the vehicle owner and order him to send him to jail. Senior officers of Gurugram Traffic Police have strongly appealed to the general public to keep checking the pending challans of their vehicles by visiting the Transport Seva Portal or the official website of the Traffic Police from time to time and get them resolved in time through Lok Adalat or online court, so that they can avoid getting trapped in the trap of a huge financial shock like ₹ 3.22 lakh and legal action.