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A case of wrong fining
Written By murali772 - 10 February, 2009
Traffic Bangalore Police Analysis Enforcement Fines
My wife received a challan by post a few days back for "holding/ using a mobile phone while driving" asking to pay up Rs 100/- fine as per Sec 230(A) KMV rules R/W 177 IMV. The incident was supposed to have happened at 9.40 hrs on Monday, 19th Jan, at Rajajinagara Entrance Circle. Now, she swears she has never been to Rajajinagar in the past one year, nor my son who sometimes borrows her vehicle (We live in Koramangala). She had received a notice once earlier for "parking in a place where she was not supposed to park (or, something to that effect)", against which she readily arranged to pay up without contest. But, this time around, the question is why should she pay, even if that's the easiest thing to do.
I called up the 'Enforcement Automation Centre' on 22943381 (info provided on the challan) to check out. When I contested the charge, the person at the other end told me to have the matter verified with the Rajajinagar traffic police on 22943016. A certain Mr Moula Baig there checked his records and reiterated that that was the information he had received from the duty constable. My trying to reason with him elicited the response that he didn't have the powers to cancel the challan. He further seemed to suggest that nobody else had the powers either, and that the only option left for us was to contest the matter in the traffic court. What does one do?
Now, here is a case where the duty constable had obviously made a mistake, perhaps a very genuine one at that (Reading and recording registration numbers, particularly of moving vehicles, is not easy even for the sharpest of eyes; and, on top of it all, we have the numbers written in all kinds of sizes and stylings, and some totally in Kannada), and we are having to run around in circles trying to seek justice, even if it is a trivial issue. The question is, in matters such as these, where the charge is of a minor nature and no third party is involved, shouldn't powers be vested with say an ACP level officer to cancel the challan, based purely on merits?
I may add here that all the police personnel I spoke to in the matter have been extremely polite in their dealings.
Connected reading: http://bangalore.praja.in/blog/murali772/2008/11/08/i-got-challanned
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
nijavaada - 11 February, 2009 - 12:42
Well Mr. Murali, You're here again with a challan, eh?! Just got reminded of the other thread in which we were talking about challans ONLY.
BTW, talking about solutions we need to be careful here. We need a solution that says not there has to be one person at the apex of the Traffic PD who can "waive" certain catches assuming laxity on the part of "his" men.. The solution we propose must ensure all the cops on the road that are entrusted with the job of watching for defaulters on the road be equipped with machinery (lite-wt & mobile) that deletes all scope for error, especially in noticing vehicle characteristics - colour, reg.no., brand/make, model etc. May be far-fetched, but thats the kind of system that we eventually want to reach. We need to ask for such a system to be in place, without which people on road are bound to get stuck with more such incedents in future.. This way we're making sure that what we ask for is a scalable solution, in that, it works equally well in (defaulting) situations much more complex and disastrous in nature.
Besides, it is noticeably a sad state of affairs that the crime-tracking (dont mind the word please, Mr. Murali) process is such a slacky one. A defaulter is sent notice nearly a month after the incedent? This is simply not what we expect, isnt it? So clearly there's a major rennovation in order here. Both on the road, and in their back-end offices.. Technology must be employed at its best to hasten catching and tracking.. lest in another decade when we reach the 10 million ball park, road crime catching/tracking will be a nightmare. Waiving violations will perhaps be the way of life to cops then!!
-Nijavaada
nijavaada - 12 February, 2009 - 02:29
Was reading an ad about electric vehicles - they are talked about more nowadays.
Apparently electric vehicles which resemble a scooty from all angles have been allowed to be driven without any license, or even a registration plate.
This is akward! Why should an electric "automobile" be allowed to enjoy such unfair, and potentially dangerous benefits? I agree its a kind of motivation/attraction for buyers, but does the traffic dept. have a roadmap as to when it plans to start bringing all such electric vehicles into its web? With no license required to ride these vehicles, I wonder how BTP is planning to manage any chaos that license-less minors might create by riding these vehicles amidst heavy traffic in cities.
This leads to some basic questions as to what are the guidelines on the nature of vehicles that the RTO must plan to "allow" on road? The wide disparity in the nature (horse power based) of vehicles that occupy a stretch of our roads is one of the primary causes for slow & crawling traffic at junctions. Speed-laning, which might actually help segregate vehicles based on power, is not possible at junctions & signals. Hence cutting down on this vehicle disparity on road is something that might have to implemented in Bengaluru, to begin with. A uniform looking traffic profile is a far more controllable entity by any policing authority than what we have today on road. To begin with, we dont have the best of the policing force available at our disposal. So it is in the best interests of our driving pleasure that we first strive to bring uniformity in traffic on road, and then ensure the police force is equipped to handle this..
-Nijavaada
psaram42 - 12 February, 2009 - 03:41
I presume they run on batteries which need to be charged. The energy source for charging these batteries may be equally harming to the environment. I can not believe that the authorities could be clueless to this extent.
If what Nijavaada says is true about electric vehicles it only shows how desperate the manufactures are to sell the electric automobiles running on batteries. Their being environment friendly is a bogie.
If the scooties are just like cycles then probably both should not be allowed on roads meant for motorized vehicles. These are just like pedestrians who are not supposed to walk on roads.
PSA
murali772 - 12 February, 2009 - 04:52
Nijavaada avare' namaskara.
Firstly, the postal franking stamp on the notice makes it out that it was posted on the 28th of Jan, ie within 9 days of the "crime", which is not bad; of course, could be better. It was received around 2nd Feb. But, since I was travelling between 4th and 8th, I could get down to doing something about it only after 9th Feb.
And, I am not even for a moment under any delusion that I and my family members have the exclusive privilege of being targeted by Mr Praveen Sood's men. During my talk with others, many of them have admitted to having enjoyed the privilege also. The difference is that, while they would rather not talk about it, I openly discuss it in order to try and help the police fine tune the whole process and make it equitable. Your comments in this regard are indeed a positive contribution.
Last evening, I was in a conversation with a Korean lady, and she told me that the fines in Seoul are of the equivalent of Rs 4,000/- for over-speeding, and Rs 1 Lakh for drunken-driving. Now, that's what I call deterrent punishment. Mr Sood may want to make a note of that. But, before he implements it, he has to ensure his process is a lot more fool-proof, and equitable (seen to be so, also).
Muralidhar Rao
PS-1: The Korean lady also talked about the corruption in the Commissioner's office at the time of Visa verification/ renewal, etc. She will be giving me details. That will be subject for a fresh blog from me. Meanwhile, today's newspapers have quoted the new DGP, Mr Ajai Kumar Singh, promising to make the police working corruption-free. Not an easy task. But, Mr Singh is no ordinary officer, either.
PS-2: I agree with your comments regarding the electric vehicles. At best, they can be allowed some road tax concessions.
narayan82 - 11 February, 2009 - 05:29
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