New Delhi: The Delhi Traffic Police is thinking of introducing a new system of collecting dues from pending challans to supplement online payments, ThePrint has learnt. The department is planning to put some of its staff on the job on Saturdays and Sundays between 10 am and 6pm to take the load off online payments.
The plan is, however, still in the initial stages of discussion, and the model of execution and launch date are undecided.
Many individuals with pending challans haven’t been able to pay their fines through the online payment system, owing to website glitches. The service provider for the online payment is the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Under the new payment mode, people will be able to pay their challan dues both online and offline at the counters set up by the police.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior officer in the traffic department said: “We have noticed and are aware of the problems faced by people while paying the challan amounts online. There have been complaints about the server gateway crashing and payment failures. Everyone wants to get rid of this pending challan issue, which is why we have come up with this idea.”
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Awaiting final approval
According to sources, the Delhi Traffic Police brass is yet to approve a detailed plan of action, and the idea has been approved only “in principle”.
“The draft plan of action prepared by traffic police officials will have to be approved by the Special Commissioner of Police traffic and the Joint CP traffic, after which the plan will be sent to the offices of all Assistant CPs and Deputy CPs, to notify them of its implementation,” another senior police officer told ThePrint.
Once that’s done, people will be able to pay their dues at the counters set up by the police.
“At present, we are planning to start collecting the fine amounts at counters set up at the offices of the ACPs. There are 13 ACP offices across the city,” the second officer said.
Dues collected at the local branches will then be transferred to the headquarters of Delhi Traffic Police, from where they will be sent to the department’s bank account, the officer added. “The duration of operation of this plan will depend on the response received,” he said.
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Only collection, no deliberation
The planned method is, however, only an alternative to the existing online payment facility of challans, and quite unlike the Lok Adalats where people can discuss the grievances relating to their traffic fines.
A period of 60 days is provided to pay an e-challan ticket from the day of the offence, failing which, it is sent to the court for payment or settlement. “Unlike courts, the police do not have the power and authority to compound the challans and address grievances,” the second officer explained.
However, despite delayed payment of dues owing to online glitches and the nationwide Covid lockdown, collection from traffic fines in Delhi witnessed a surge of 32 per cent last year. A total of Rs 124.16 crore was collected in 2020 through on-spot challans and notices (challans issued through cameras), as against Rs 94.07 crore collected in 2019.
This, according to the police, was because cameras placed at various locations across the capital were able to spot offenders, even as the police personnel maintained social distancing. The traffic police have therefore started employing more personnel for issuing on-spot e-challans to offenders caught through Violation on Camera App (VOCA).
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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