[TusharK]

According to a media report, from December 1, 2019, the Mumbai Traffic Police will request the courts to issue arrest warrants against those with pending e-challans.



The report states that the police are yet to recover around Rs. 80 crore in fines. The police had started sending SMSes and letters to offenders with an aim to recover the fines, but did not receive a positive response.

It has been reported that 27 lakh e-challans still remain unsettled. These include more than 9,000 vehicles carrying a penalty of Rs. 5,000 and more.

Source

Link to Team-BHP News

[GTO]

The person should be called to court first and given a chance to pay the fine.

My concern = let's say someone's address / phone number has changed, or for whatever reason the SMS & letters don't reach him, it shouldn't be that an arrest warrant is issued for him

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by TusharK

According to a media report, from December 1, 2019, the Mumbai Traffic Police will request the courts to issue arrest warrants against those with pending e-challans.

The report states that the police are yet to recover around Rs. 80 crore in fines. The police had started sending SMSes and letters to offenders with an aim to recover the fines, but did not receive a positive response.

Did not receive a positive response? What were they expecting?

For once the administration is getting a taste of its own medicine.

Can we follow a similar procedure to procure arrest warrants against those responsible for the 5 star lunar grade roads we have in Mumbai?

On a serious note, I still see people conveniently flouting traffic rules, two wheelers riding without helmets, tripling, etc. These fines don't seem to have made much of a difference. A stubborn and ignorant lot we Indians, aren't we?

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by GTO

The person should be called to court first and given a chance to pay the fine.

My concern = let's say someone's address / phone number has changed, or for whatever reason the SMS & letters don't reach him, it shouldn't be that an arrest warrant is issued for him

You are absolutely correct. However some steps need to be taken.
Ideally the local RTO where the vehicle is registered should have provisions to let the vehicle owner update his/her contact mobile number which can be used for communication (something like how they did for Aadhar). This time period should be about 6 months. After 6 months, the defaulters can be heavily fined or arrested because they did not reply to the SMS or pay the fine as this particular number was provided by the owner himself/herself. I know that this procedure is tedious but at least a chance is given.

[saket77]

Though I am not from Mumbai, but this issue is pan India. There is no provision to add temporary/ communication address in a fuss free manner.

I am currently not living at the address which is registered in my car's RC. I am still in the same city but not at the same address. I wanted to get it updated in the RC. They wanted me to submit the address proof with relevant fee, which is fine; but along with original RC. There was no timeline quoted for the updation. This can stretch for a couple of months. Sorry, but I don't have the bandwidth to run around the RTO for this updation and I cannot cope with the fear of losing my original RC. Also, I frequently travel on the highways, where I prefer to carry the original documents along with photocopies.

Also, I think it is a good idea for all motorists to occasionally check the echallan website for your city/ state where one can punch in the registration number and check for any pending challans. Being a little proactive on this matter will surely help, especially for those whose RC address isn't updated.

Regards,
Saket

[Sahil]

Their website ask for engine chassis number now instead of just registration number, wonder why they are making paying fines more complex !

[amrutmhatre90]

Guess what, I drive a Maruti Ertiga,few days back I was issued an e-challan. For stopping ahead of white line. Amount was Rs.200. When I checked the image attached here is what I see



The image shows TUV300 & Zen. There is 1 more image attached to it which shows only my car number. I tweeted this to the Mumbai Police & sent a mail too. But according to them the challan issued is proper



My concern is not about the Rs.200 fine. But if I have violated terms I do need to see proper evidence. I wonder how many people have been fined like me. Or is this a new way of collecting money from others pocket?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Their website ask for engine chassis number now instead of just registration number, wonder why they are making paying fines more complex !

So that we cannot check fines of those whose we don't intend to pay

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Their website ask for engine chassis number now instead of just registration number, wonder why they are making paying fines more complex !

Because people were checking the fines for politicians and celebrities and finding that they were unpaid for years on end. Any bets on whether they will be arrested too?


https://www.latestly.com/india/news/...s-1014458.html


Rather than getting them to pay up, the authorities in their wisdom just decided that they would only show pending challans to the authorized owner, whose mobile number is registered. Saves everyone a lot of embarassment.

[ani_meher]

My vehicle number is MH12AA1111. I have seen that it is getting challan many times, and when checked the photo, it is actually another vehicle with number MH14AA1111! Luckily that person has paid the fines so far. Just because of habit of entering MH12 instead of MH14, my vehicle has accumulated quite a record! Is there a contact where I can reach out?

[V.Narayan]

Most Govt departments apart from the Income Tax do not understand that for digitization and electronic methods to work they first need to have correct data (GIGO) and then allow the public to self update, view & question their records on line and deal with a properly trained call centre. Credit card companies do this for a living at 1000X the scale. In typical colonial era police mentality they believe riding roughshod is the answer to all ills and shortfalls. Nevertheless speaking in favour of the cops a significant number of the unpaid challans are such our of deliberate wrong intention.

[frewper]

I have one serious question. Are we required to pay the fine, if there is no Image attached to the e-challan online?? I recently paid a fine online, where it was mentioned that I had double parked. There was nothing under the evidences section. No images uploaded. As far as I can remember I never double park. If I am not able to find car parking I normally park far off and I choose to walk. And its a habit for me to make sure that I have not parked in a manner that will block others way. So double parking is doubtful.

Nevertheless I did pay off the fine, just thinking that I might be wrong. But since no images were uploaded, I have my doubts.

[sandeepsc]

Looking at above examples i have very serious doubt about e-challan system. I don't understand how these cameras understand that you have violated the traffic rule. Means camera keeps capturing photos and police at control room check every photos and send e-challan to offenders.

On their website they ask for engine or chassis number to check any pending e-challan against your car number. How they come to know that this particular registration number vehicle has this engine number or chassis number. What i mean to say that if outside registration car violates the rule e.g. jumping white line at signal in Mumbai, how e-challan system will note car's engine or chassis number. Is this system is integrated all RTOs across Maharashtra and India?

[Torq]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

i have very serious doubt about e-challan system.

The cameras record and monitor live feed to the control room where a team of police monitor this and issue challan based on offense committed and register the same to the registered number of the car.
This is tied up with RTO records who already have all the details viz chassis/engine number.
If the mobile phone number is registered, offense details and link to image are sent as sms.
Either way, next time when the car/bike owner/rider/driver is caught manually by TP, they check for existing challans as well as PUC/Insurance details in their records. This is when the fines are collected. Including past pending payments.
IMHO this is a very nice concept which alongwith ensuring positive rule following (violators have not only got to se eif TP present or not, but presence/absence of CCTV cam) also, ensures that proper violation is recorded and corruption is reduced (can't be eliminated, but reduction is also a welcome move)

[risga]

Originally Posted by sandeepsc

Looking at above examples i have very serious doubt about e-challan system. I don't understand how these cameras understand that you have violated the traffic rule. Means camera keeps capturing photos and police at control room check every photos and send e-challan to offenders.

On their website they ask for engine or chassis number to check any pending e-challan against your car number. How they come to know that this particular registration number vehicle has this engine number or chassis number. What i mean to say that if outside registration car violates the rule e.g. jumping white line at signal in Mumbai, how e-challan system will note car's engine or chassis number. Is this system is integrated all RTOs across Maharashtra and India?

The vehicle registration no. is enough to register the e-challan. This is uploaded into the Vahan database, which is an online database where all RTOs across all states are linked (except maybe 1 or 2).

The chassis and engine numbers are required for users to register and check their e-challans. This is a privacy measure as only owners would have these details. Else anyone would be able to check for any other vehicle just by knowing the registration no.