The traffic police in Maharashtra imposes fine every year on lakhs of vehicles for violating the traffic rules and the vehicle owners are expected to pay the dues online as e-challans are raised for people's convinience and official records. However, authorities have reported that over 10 lakh vehicle owners have not paid the dues and keeping the same in mind, the Additional Director General (ADG) of Maharashtra (traffic) had decided to send an ultimatum reminding them to pay the dues latest by Friday, September 24, 2021, failing which they will have to present for the Lok Adalat which has been planned on Saturday, September 25, 2021.
As per reports, officials have been sending reminders and notices frequently since September 12, 2021, and data reveals that over INR 417 crores are yet to be collected as fines from vehicle owners, however, fines of over 1.2 lakhs e-challans, i.e., worth only INR 5.52 crore has been collected so far. A report regarding this was published in the Hindustan Times which quoted the ADG who said, "We sent notices to over 10 lakh vehicle owners, calling upon them to pay their pending e-challans or be present in front of the Lok Adalat. Around 20 per cent violators have paid the fine in the past one week and we expect another 25-30 per cent violators to pay the fine before the due date.”
Also Read: E-Challan To Be Issued Within 15 Days Of Violating Traffic Rules
SMS were sent to the owner's registered mobile numbers, however, not many have responded to the same. As of now, over 10 lakh e-challans are in the pending state and only 82,000 challans have been cleared in the last few weeks from September 13, 2021. The department has collected over INR 3.16 as fine so far. Meanwhile, more than 6700 violaters were sent notices in Navi Mumbai and the concerned department has collected INR 54 lakh in fine.
In an attempt to collect the fine, the officers also considered door-to-door collection of the payments. A team of constables were selected for the same who visited the mentioned addresses and were able to collect INR 1 crore as fine from those who failed to make a payment of over INR 5,000.
Police officials have stated that the vehicle owners do not take the e-challan system seriously and hence sorting the matters in court is the last step, failing to appear further leads to legal actions. Appeals have been made to the citizens to ensure they regularly check the e-challan portal on the traffic police website to ensure there is no pending amount or uncleared challan, as it could lead to further complications.
Also Read: Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police launches integrated helpline number for emergency calls
Also Read: Mumbai Police Commissioner Directs Traffic Police Personnel To Not Check Vehicles
Share
Tweet
