Pending e-challans: Maharashtra traffic police issue ultimatum to over 10 lakh vehicle owners
According to BK Upadhyay, ADG (traffic), since September 12, the Maharashtra traffic police had begun sending pre-litigation notices to owners of vehicles who owe them more than ₹417.41 crore in fines for traffic violations across the state
Losing patience over pending e-challans the additional director general (ADG) of Maharashtra (traffic) has given an ultimatum to over 10 lakh vehicle owners to pay their traffic challan dues by Friday or present themselves before the Lok Adalat on Saturday.
According to BK Upadhyay, ADG (traffic), since September 12, the Maharashtra traffic police had begun sending pre-litigation notices to owners of vehicles who owe them more than ₹417.41 crore in fines for traffic violations across the state.
Upadhyay said that the pre-litigation notices were sent across the state and a recovery drive had started since September 13, and so far, Maharashtra traffic police have recovered a fine of ₹5.52 crore levied through 120,024 e-challans.
“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% violators have paid the fine in the past one week and we expect another 25-30% violators to pay the fine before the due date,” said ADG Upadhyay.
The notices were sent to violators via SMS on their registered mobile numbers.
Out of over 10 lakh pending e-challans, the traffic police have sent maximum notices to violators in Mumbai city, of which 82,409 challans were paid amounting to ₹3.16 crore since September 13.
Navi Mumbai was in second place, where 6,726 violators paid the e-challan dues worth ₹54,23 lakh.
“Violators were taking the e-challan system lightly. We resorted to approach the court and collect the pending amount,” said Upadhyay. If the violators do not pay the fines, the Maharashtra Police would file a case against them in regular courts, he added.
Officials said the vehicle owners who have not received the notice should also check the status of their e-challans on the traffic police website.
Since June 14 this year, the traffic police had decided to send their personnel to the doorstep of violators for the recovery of pending e-challans which has resulted in the recovery of ₹1 crore in their kitty. Special teams of constables were asked to visit the addresses of violators who have not paid e-challans of more than ₹5,000.