[proton]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Surprised to see police behave like this!! I imagined that the cops are extremely polite when dealing with expensive cars, I am amazed at how they treated you like this when you were in an Audi!!! My personal experience with cops has been that they routinely stop me if I am riding my bike or driving a small car, but the moment I am in my SUV they don't mess with me, may be driving a white SUV helps...
You shouldnt have given to the cops extortion. Breaking a red light, rash driving or lane cutting are not jailable offences and when the inspector threatened to arrest you, you should have called his bluff and dialled your lawyer.

I dialled my lawyer. He told me to pay the bribe.

Two lawyer friends of his have had their cars impounded fir more than a year, oending cases of rash driving being charged to them

[StepUP!]

I feel really bad after reading what you had to go through. Of course what happened is terrifying. But I think you are drawing far fetched conclusions here based on one incident out of the blue. And I feel surprised when other bhpians are calling "them" corrupt, they like people to beg, and are pondering over their love towards country!
Who are "them"? All police? Don't we have good and bad people everywhere?
Does Satyam fiasco make all IT companies thug, immoral?
So there are good people as well and yes we come across them rarely. But they do exist! If you want to chase it try to run through them and get things settled for once and all. Else as someone rightly said ignore this "bad karma" and move on.

[mvadg]

Thanks for sharing your story stuntfreak. My heartfelt sympathies.
Everytime I get pulled over on a technicality or like you for not even breaking any law, I go through a period of misery.

I hope you can get the cops punished for our sake, but I also know that would take a lot of time, effort and money. May be the best thing is to let go like others have suggested.

Once, I got into trouble for refusing to pay on the spot suspecting a fraudulent ticket (yes, Bengaluru Police are tech savvy and know how to put some thing on the equivalent of Notepad on their Blackberry and print it out as a receipt). While the DCP agreed with me that the cop had no right to seize my scooter for a Rs 100 fine; I was the one who had to spend the entire day running around to get my scooter back. All those who say that the higher officials are honest, please revise your opinion - this could not have happened without their tacit consent; did the cop suffer in any way for his high-handedness? No way!

I have a dashcam and I see infractions every day, including those by the police. Till now, I did nothing with the clips, but I intend to start reporting them, especially those by the police and give them a dose of their own medicine. I too was thinking of removing my dashcam, but thanks to your story, I will use it more proactively now.

[XtremeTorque]

Stuntfreak, your car put you into trouble. If you were driving a Maruthi or something you probably wont become a prime target for extracting money by cops. "Digging where the money is" the system we have in here..

I usually keep some money with me while driving for paying stuffs like these. I call it "driving expense". Whenever a situation arises I dont bother arguing with cops about who is right, instead just give them whatever they demand and wont care if they gave me a receipt for it or not. My fellow passengers will then tell me things like "you dont have to pay such ridiculous amounts" or "you have xx days to pay fine" etc. and all I say was I need peace of mind. Thats just the way it is in India while driving here.

Originally Posted by mvadg

I have a dashcam and I see infractions every day, including those by the police. Till now, I did nothing with the clips, but I intend to start reporting them, especially those by the police and give them a dose of their own medicine.

Maybe start a Youtube channel and everyone can contribute the clips from their dashcams. I have seen plenty of traffic violations and infractions by Officials too, only now I got the dashcam.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

Dear supportive team bhpians,

Attached are some pictures of newly installed dash cams in my car. One for the front view - wide angle, one at the rear , and one semi wide cockpit cam. Also covering people outside the drivers windshield.

Take care guys.

Please have the rear dashcam installed somewhere else. Right now it's on the number plate as seen in the pics - not sure how strict the Pune cops are w.r.t this but it can be another reason to target you.

[raghu.t.k]

If taken to court with a good lawyer, cant the courts demand the CCTV footage from the 2 intersections ? Else what safeguards do we have against such false cases ? Not everyone would be aware of the dash cams. The trend/ value of this dash cam is only catching up even in this forum.

[stuntfreak]

Originally Posted by mvadg

Thanks for sharing your story stuntfreak. My heartfelt sympathies.
Everytime I get pulled over on a technicality or like you for not even breaking any law, I go through a period of misery.

I hope you can get the cops punished for our sake, but I also know that would take a lot of time, effort and money. May be the best thing is to let go like others have suggested.

Once, I got into trouble for refusing to pay on the spot suspecting a fraudulent ticket (yes, Bengaluru Police are tech savvy and know how to put some thing on the equivalent of Notepad on their Blackberry and print it out as a receipt). While the DCP agreed with me that the cop had no right to seize my scooter for a Rs 100 fine; I was the one who had to spend the entire day running around to get my scooter back. All those who say that the higher officials are honest, please revise your opinion - this could not have happened without their tacit consent; did the cop suffer in any way for his high-handedness? No way!

I have a dashcam and I see infractions every day, including those by the police. Till now, I did nothing with the clips, but I intend to start reporting them, especially those by the police and give them a dose of their own medicine. I too was thinking of removing my dashcam, but thanks to your story, I will use it more proactively now.

Originally Posted by XtremeTorque

Stuntfreak, your car put you into trouble. If you were driving a Maruthi or something you probably wont become a prime target for extracting money by cops. "Digging where the money is" the system we have in here..

I usually keep some money with me while driving for paying stuffs like these. I call it "driving expense". Whenever a situation arises I dont bother arguing with cops about who is right, instead just give them whatever they demand and wont care if they gave me a receipt for it or not. My fellow passengers will then tell me things like "you dont have to pay such ridiculous amounts" or "you have xx days to pay fine" etc. and all I say was I need peace of mind. Thats just the way it is in India while driving here.



Maybe start a Youtube channel and everyone can contribute the clips from their dashcams. I have seen plenty of traffic violations and infractions by Officials too, only now I got the dashcam.

Excellent idea! I will contribute as much as I can.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Please have the rear dashcam installed somewhere else. Right now it's on the number plate as seen in the pics - not sure how strict the Pune cops are w.r.t this but it can be another reason to target you.

I am not going to use this car much. Only when most high end cars meet (they dont trouble then since most political people's sons are driving around). And will be using it on the track mostly. Time for a performance upgrade

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

If taken to court with a good lawyer, cant the courts demand the CCTV footage from the 2 intersections ? Else what safeguards do we have against such false cases ? Not everyone would be aware of the dash cams. The trend/ value of this dash cam is only catching up even in this forum.

Dear Raghu, for that I will have to go to the high court and waste more of my time and money for no reason. At the end of the day the charges will be dropped and my time and money will wasted along with peace of mind. Meanwhile I have met a decent cop, willing to help me in this case. Will kee you posted on this. the next date is 1st of next month.

[KALINGA]

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

Excellent idea! I will contribute as much as I can.

Dear stuntfreak,

Suggest to let it go like a bad dream.
Do not spend your time and money for this.

Even i can remember how a cop snatched my purse and took all my money in tilak road. This incident was in 2005.

Till date i never keep much cash in my purse.

BTW could you please PM me the pune dashcam company details.

[quickdraw]

Something very similar happened to me in Bombay, I refused to pay the bribe and had my licence taken away. When I tried to get the licence back they said I can only get it back from the court and I had a flight to catch, I had to pay Rs 1500 and just left and learnt my lesson. Traffic cops in Maharastra have gone completely batshit insane with this stuff and its best to just let them be I guess.

[ssambyal1980]

@stuntfreak
Condolences for everything you went through. Felt frustrated after reading about the unruly behaviour of traffic cops and was shocked to know that these cops were women. At Least one expects them to be docile and well mannered. Nonetheless this is happening everyday all over the country and mostly the victims are unsuspecting, law abiding, responsible citizens.

Reminds me of one such unpleasant experience which I had during my road trip from Chandigarh to Hyderabad in car to attend a friend's wedding. It had been two days since I've arrived in Hyderabad and on one fine day was driving through Kukatpally suburb of the metropolis. The time was around 1930Hrs, and I was signaled to stop at barrier put up by traffic police as a part of routine checking.

I was relaxed as was carrying all the documents (Registration Certificate, Driving Licence, Insurance Policy & Pollution Check Certificate) in person. After checking all the documents the constable went around the vehicle and told me to show NOC as the vehicle was from outside the state. I said that I don't have one as I had arrived only two days back but he didn't listen and reported the matter to his senior who was an inspector level officer.

On again being questioned, I repeated the same thing but he was in no mood to listen and bluntly said that either produce the NOC or pay a fine worth Rs 10,000/-. I requested him to explain under which rule was he trying to fine me and he said that any outside state vehicle which has remained in Andhra Pradesh (this incident dates back to March 2014) for more than three months, has to mandatorily get a NOC for plying in the state. I again said that I had arrived in Hyderabad only two days ago but to no avail.

He insisted that the onus lied on me to prove my statements. It was a catch twenty two situation. At first I thought of calling my acquaintance in the city to bail me out of this unwanted trouble but then it immediately struck my mind to produce the toll tax receipts of the entire trip from Chandigarh to Hyderabad, which luckily were still in the glove box. So I quickly showed them to the inspector to prove my point. That was more than enough to convince him, so he finally allowed my to proceed. Oh what a relief it was!!! After driving off I thought that what if I didn't have the toll tax receipts??? On reaching my friend's home I narrated the entire incident to which he just laughed off and said that this NOC issue was nothing but a ploy to harass the outside state vehicles.

Since then have heard a lot that outside vehicle owners are harassed on this very pretext both in Andhra and Karnataka. Does anyone has experienced this?

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

..Does anyone has experienced this?

Quite a common ordeal for out station vehicle owners here in Karnataka. Have heard that it's the same situation in both Andhra and Telangana.

[jeepster_chd]

Caution: This is a very long post.

A little about me: Like you I am also a law abiding citizen and when in similar situation I too have fought tooth and nail to prove myself 'not guilty'. Those who love me they hate me for frequently messing up with 'sarkari' people to make them do their job.

Excerpts about what I have been through and what action I took.

In May 2011, I was frequenting local police authorities to man a light point adjacent to the place where I live. No one paid heed and to my bad luck my wife met with a major accident on the same light point latter. I wrote a lengthy email to the DGP Punjab Police blaming him and his department for not doing the job they were supposed to and causing the accident. Within a week's time local DSP traffic was calling me, requesting a right time to see me. Cutting long story short, it’s been 4 years; the light point is manned, and on and off the personnel there wave me when I cross

Conclusion: Higher ups do listen.

The other incident occurred last year. The road to the place where I live was in a very bad shape (in fact there was no road for a 1 k.m long stretch). Including my dad and other senior citizens of the area met the elected representative and he assured them action but nothing happened. It was then when I came across http://pgportal.gov.in/. I lodged a complaint against Government of Punjab and listed all the issues we were facing. It took them 4 months but now we have better road connectivity (though they are still working on other issues I raised).

Conclusion: With the right approach and technology at hand, you can make the deaf hear. The government at the center has changed and these ‘sarkari babus’ are now answerable to all of us.

A couple of year back I had a Reliance Telecommunications internet connection which never worked from day one. After a series of verbal and written complaints and at least 6 billing cycles, I requested them to take the connection back. They blatantly refused to do so and pressed me to pay the outstanding amount. It was clear cut an attempt to extort more money from a customer who was hell bent on surrendering their services. My connection was never disconnected and for over a year I was getting calls from recovery agents and threat letters from their advocates. I got the shock of lifetime when I got summons from Lok Adalat that Reliance Communications has filed an Economic Offense case against me. It read that I owe Relaince over 18000/-.

I recovered from the initial shock and looked for the official Lok Adalat website online. I learnt that you can represent yourself (advocate is not required) and good thing being that Lok Adalat assures resolution (comprise) in the first appearance itself. This followed by reading and assimilating the Consumer Protection Act and highlighting and marking the relevant clauses, etc. With the right documents, email printouts at hand, I approached the honorable court and to my pleasure the judge pronounced the verdict in my favor and I had to pay nothing.

Conclusion: Have faith in yourself, follow the path your conscience deems right, God won’t let you down. I am no lawyer.

I work for an IT firm with very little resources and time to spare. Still I was able to do my bit every time I made up my mind. I am certain you have all the resources and may be a little time to spare as well. Go for it. Teach these goons a lesson.

Why?

As far as I am concerned, once been in such a situation I would have never been able to take the burden off my chest unless I fought. The ‘victim’ feel is killing. The accused should be brought to book. Someone has to get up and take notice.

You can begin with writing to local authorities and if they do not listen, visit the PG Portal and lodge a detailed complaint.

[mallumowgli]

That's a very motivating post jeepster_chd. Great to know that all is not lost in our beloved country

If this post could be moved to a separate thread and then posted in Tbhp facebook page,guess this can get good publicity. Just my humble opinion

[gabrielthomas]

Apart from Dashcams, I trust we should also be equipped with Button Cameras, Pen cameras and what not! just to deal with these money-minded buggers!

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Quite a common ordeal for out station vehicle owners here in Karnataka. Have heard that it's the same situation in both Andhra and Telangana.

The main reason for such harassment is the huge difference in the percentage of road tax levied during registration of the vehicles in Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana as compared to other states. The road tax levied in the above said states is the highest.

For comparison sake following is the compilation of charges levied in some of the states:

1. Delhi:

*Price Upto Rs. 6 Lac - Petrol Cars - 4%, Diesel Cars - 5%

*Price between 6 Lac - 10 Lac - Petrol Cars - 7%, Diesel Cars - 8.75%

*Price > Rs. 10 Lac as Ex Showroom Cost - Petrol Cars - 10%, Diesel Cars - 12.5%

*Apart from the above, MCD Parking Charges of Rs. 2000 for cars priced under 4 Lakh and Rs. 4000 for rest of the vehicles.

2. Uttar Pradesh:

*8% of ex-showroom price. No separate classification of hatchback, sedan, petrol, diesel.

*For Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Meerut, Agra etc an Additional Temporary Charges of Rs. 1500

*For used cars >15 years, new Green Tax Introduced in UP, which is chargeable at time of renewal of registration.

3. Haryana: - last revised on 1st June 2015

*Price Upto Rs. 6 Lac - 5%

*Price between Rs. 6 Lac - 20 Lac - 8%

*Price above 20 Lac - 10%

*Additional: Panchayat Fee and Temporary Charges - Rs 3500 approx as additional charges on Registration


4. Maharashtra:
*Price < 10 Lakh - CNG @ 5%, Petrol @ 9%, Diesel @ 11%

*Price between 10 Lakh - 20 Lakh - CNG @ 6%, Petrol @ 10%, Diesel @ 12%

*Price Above 20 Lakh - Petrol @ 11%, Diesel @ 13%

*Additional Octroi @ 4.5% for cars registered in Mumbai. If car bought in Company Name or bought by any Ltd or Pvt Ltd company, RTO Slabs would be double the above slabs

5. Andhra Pradesh & Telangana:
*Price < 10 Lakh - 12%

*Price > 10 Lakh - 14%

6. Kerala:
*Price < 5 Lakh - 7%

*Price between 5 - 10 Lakh - 10%

*Price > 10 Lakh, but Less than 15 Lakh - 12%

*Price > 15 Lakh - 17%

7. Karnataka:
*Price < 5 Lakh - 15%

*Price between 5 - 10 Lakh - 16%

*Price between 10 - 20 Lakh - 19%

*Price > 20 Lakh - 20%

8. Chandigarh:
*All Cars Priced uptil 20 Lakh - 6%

*Above 20 Lakh - 8%

9. Punjab:
Flat 6% of Ex-showroom price of car, irrespective of Value or Fuel Type

10. Rajasthan:
*Price upto 3 Lakh - 3%

*Price from 3 Lakh to 6 Lakh - 6%

*Above 6 Lakh - 8%

11. Uttarakhand:
*Price Upto 10 Lakh - 4%

*Above 10 Lakh - 5%

From the above comparison its quite evident that in the states of Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana the road tax levied at the time of registration is quite high. Due this the outstation vehicles are frequently harassed and if the person intends to shift (due to job transfer etc) to the these three states, he/she is compelled to get his/her vehicle re registered in the state. This is absolutely unjustified as no such rule exists anywhere else in the country.

The only solution to this problem is dissolution of all state RTOs, instead there should be one central government authority which takes care of all such matters and ensures that a uniform road tax is levied throughout the country. This will immensely help in curbing rampant corruption prevailing in the RTOs across the nation and would also give a big relief to the motorists facing harassment at the hands of traffic authorities of other states. Sincerely hope that something concrete is done by the government on this matter at the earliest.