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One of the most outrageous challans I have recieved :-


Had to pay it off since I was selling the car:Frustrati

Long post. Please bear.

This incident happened outside KEM Hospital, Parel.

My wife is a doctor at KEM. Most days I just drop her and go. This particular day we had some small work inside the hospital and so I parked my car by the road just like many other cars. I went in for about 45 mins and came back to see my car missing. I was told by bystanders the car was towed away just 2 minutes ago which means I would have been at the exit gate around the time. Infact, the last 10 minutes I was on the 2nd floor at the window overlooking the road while my wife went inside to speak to the Accounts team. I didn't find anything unusual on the road although my car was not in my direct sight. There were other cars beside my car which were left as is. My car is TS registered and hence they might have thought of it as an easy target. I understand the convenient explanation they can give - We can tow only 1 car at a time and we can choose which car we want to tow. All cars were parked perpendicular to the road so, it's easy to identify and tow away whichever car they want. There was no Public Announcement on a megaphone which is the rule.

https://www.financialexpress.com/ind...police/947690/

Had they announced, I would have probably rushed to the car and just pay off the No Parking fine without my vehicle getting towed away. I then came to know that the road has No Parking on left/ right side on odd/ even days respectively. It is a one way but there is lot of two way traffic and they turn a blind eye to that.

We both rushed to the nearest Traffic Chowki which is more than a km away. While walking I checked online as to what is the usual process in case a vehicle gets towed away. This is the first result i saw:
https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumb...your-own-peril

I received a similar No Parking ticket for Rs 672 just 20 days ago where my vehicle was towed away in Sion. On that day I had an appointment in the Passport office and didn't bother to check the rules. I went to the chowki directly and was told to pay Rs 672. I mentioned the place i had parked didn't have a No Parking board in the vicinity and it was also well ahead of the busstop. They immediately dropped the towing charge and told me to pay the No Parking fee of Rs 200. The SMS i received mentioned Rs 672 and that i can pay the fine in 15 days time. I checked the Maharashtra e challan site which showed a fine of just Rs 200 which i paid. I felt this towing charge was illegal and was being collected from unsuspecting people. Paid Rs 200 on the site and the vehicle was released immediately. I never received a no parking ticket in the last 3.5 years in Mumbai but received 2 in a span of 20 days.

The Mumbai Traffic Police can fine you for 83 reasons listed here with fine amounts.https://trafficpolicemumbai.maharashtra.gov.in/fine/
Nowhere it mentions anything about towing charges.

In the meanwhile i received a similar SMS this time too for a fine of total Rs 672 which includes Rs 200 towards No Parking charges and Rs 472 (Rs 400+Rs 72 GST) towards towing charges. I felt last time i was fortunate but this time i will be coerced into paying the towing charges too because we know how the police are. I reached the place and it was not so busy that day. I met another car owner who just paid Rs 672 including towing charges too.

I identified my car which was on the edge of their premises in a busy 4 junction. A careless driver could even have hit the car and take no responsibility for it, saying careless parking on the road (by me or the traffic cops). I went to the car to see if there was any damage to the bumper during towing and to the wheel if there were any scratches by the clamp. I found the clamp was just placed at the wheel and was not locked. That was the case with other cars too. The yellow color clamp gives an impression it's locked so as to deter people from driving away. I just displaced it with my hand and it came off. I put the clamp beside the car, got in, waited for another minute or so for the oncoming traffic to reduce, as it was parked carelessly, half of the width of the car on the road facing the traffic turned 180 degree and drove. My car would have caused more trouble to other motorists where they had parked than the place where they had picked it up from. I thought i'll pay the fine online which is anyway showing on the echallan site.

I drove 50 metres or so and then stopped by the road nonchalantly and took a phone call for about 10 minutes. Again drove hardly 50 metres and stopped for a red light. The traffic cop who towed away my car reaches and knocks on my window. I lowered down partly and he told me the vehicle was towed away and I didn't pay the fine and I had to pay. I told him the fine is reflecting online on my vehicle and I will clear it like the way I clear the fines periodically and that I anyway have at least 15 days to clear it. I was getting late as my wife had to report to work which is very time sensitive. He was also probably aware that the online fine is for No Parking alone(Rs 200) and he wanted me to pay it then and there so he could charge me for towing too. I refused and he called in someone slightly senior to him and he mentions what i did amounts to theft and was blurting out Section 379, 379 occasionally. Arguments leading nowhere, with no choice we all reached the chowki again. Asked for vehicle papers and told me to clear the fines including some earlier ones. I did. He took photo copies of the papers, with my number and told will file a case if his seniors ask him to. Then we had a small chat with him about the rules and that I was not aware etc. He also mentioned some anecdotes about how people who changed the locked clamped wheel with spare and drove away were charged with theft and are in jail. He took some names from my wife's hospital and asked if we knew them. He mentioned how he helped them. Asked if we knew a particular doctor in KEM whose car was stolen and how he helped find it. He turned friendly to the extent that we exchanged mobile numbers and took some photos. Expressed gratitude for educating regarding the rules and how things can be turned against one. While leaving i mentioned about the photocopies with him. He told me not to worry and he would not go ahead with filing a case.

It's been 4 days since and no call from him. But, just wanted to seek expert opinions from senior members here on this situation. Can a case be made out in this? I am feeling a bit unsettled since the time he mentioned 379, theft etc and that i stole a car that actually belongs to me.

No, based on your credentials and more importantly your wife being a Doctor from nearby hospital helped. Everybody has high regards for Doctors, so don’t worry but take it as a lesson.

Pay the fines online and park at designated places. Seeing others and doing same mistake is not correct.

Please relax and do not worry too much. I really do not see anything majorly wrong that you committed. While you did pull away in your car while it was impounded without notice to anyone which can be considered as an offence, you did the right thing by sorting it out amicably with the officer later on and paying the fine as well so all is good.

Even if there's a off chance that they send you a legal notice, I feel they spoiled their own case by letting you pay off that fine and other fines then and there which is like a settlement. Do preserve those receipts well. Section 379 is a compoundable offence meaning it may be settled off court between parties.

PS: the above is not a legal advice

So for the 1st time since I got my DL over 37 years ago I got hit with 2 speeding tickets on the route from Kolhapur to Pune on 23/2. In one I was 5 km over the speed limit of 90 kmph i.e. at 95 kmph and in the 2nd one I was 6 km over the speed limit of 95 kmph i.e at 101 kmph per the cops. :Frustrati Fines were Rs 1000 each and paid off.

I thought national highway speed limit was raised from 80 to 100 kmph? Or is it now 90? I know the Mumbai Pune e-way limit has been increased from 80 to 120 and revised down to 100.

There are these highway police vehicles with radar domes on them parked on the side of the road. They spot you from up to 100-400 meters away. Slow down as you near cities. Police have a target on fine collections as they approach the FY end and the Feb/March months are probably when they go into overdrive.

I feel your pain. I got caught for the first time after 40 years of driving. Doing 82 kmph in an 80 kmph zone!!

You are absolutely right about the quota. I got caught round about the end of the month!!


Regards,
SS

I saw one of the Interceptor (Ertiga) vehicles with the speed gun in the boot today afternoon. I saw the vehicle a bit late and might have been over the speed limit. I checked the Maharashtra e-challan website and there were no speeding tickets. Is there any delay in issuing the tickets or are they issued on the same day itself?

I have seen Ertigas with the kit in the boot like you did. But this time it was mainly Mahindra Boleros with radar domes on the roof. Those are pretty easy to spot if you keep your eyes open.

I am not sure how long they take to upload the tickets because I did a random check on the MH e-challan site after spotting those radar equipped vehicles. The tickets were already over a month old dating back to 3rd week Feb. I would recommend all vehicle owners checking this site regularly because e-challans are issued without notice. Also register your mobile # against your car registration #. I believe they may send text messages to notify you.

This is not only a month year but FY end too. :) If you notice below there's a BHPian who got a ticket for being 1 km over the limit.

When driving overseas if you were within 5 mph/8 kmph of the limit the cops wouldn't ticket you because there has to be some leeway due to speedometer and even human error. But we gotta hand it to our cops they're obviously unaware of speedo errors and are extremely enthusiastic indeed.

My advice is just slow down to 80-90 when you are within 30 km away from a city limit either approaching or departing. From the location of my tickets I surmised the cops are parked in those areas with their radars and waiting.

Come to think of it there was a chap in a Goa registered blue Audi RS5 who was going like a bat out of hell. I estimate he was very easily doing 160-180 kmph. Wonder how many challans he's clocked up by now. rl:

Checked the e-challan site randomly today and was surprised to see a fine for Rs.1000. Was caught 'Speeding' at 51 km/h in a 30 km/h zone (Thane Mumbra Bypass).

I have not seen any speed limit boards and besides this road is frequented by Heavy vehicles. Can this fine be contested and how? Ideally, the 30 km/h limit should be for heavy vehicles as this road is after a downhill slope. Please advice!

Been there done that. Sadly, there is no real way to contest this unless you have a dash cam on the car or take a 2nd trip and take pics of the road with missing signs.

Here's one of my cars getting a Challan -

The road doesn't even seem to have proper lane markings, median seems to be in bad shape and they expect us to pay for all this?? :Frustrati

Hope TN doesn't start installing this money printers.

Its so difficult to understand the exact speed limit at a given point!

Its even more confusing on the Express Highway where the speed limit at a point is 80 and then suddenly it becomes 35 within a kilometer or 2.
Giving the cops a good chance at minting money. Over speeding is one of the higher fines at 1000 Rs.

I think they should atleast have a threshold of 5-10 km/hr.

Also, the high security number plates seem to be attracting more fines at night, look at the amount of reflection!:Frustrati

Anyways, here's my contribution, all fines paid.







On a lighter note, can I claim this amount as donation to the govt while filing returns.;)

Is there a time window within which the challan amount needs to be paid? I just checked today and found a challan on my car dated 19-12-2020.

I believe the time limit is 15 days but not much follow up is taking place unless its a large amount / you're stopped for checking on the road.
Better to pay it off and check regularly.

Maharashtra: 81% traffic defaulters yet to pay e-challan dues.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/ci...dalat-7433756/