Team-BHP > Street Experiences


Reply
  Search this Thread
6,490 views
Old 8th January 2016, 16:27   #16
Senior - BHPian
 
ghodlur's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Thane
Posts: 5,997
Thanked: 4,174 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

The basic question to be asked is Will this initiative make people not violate traffic rules/ Are we saying that people are ok breaking traffic rules and more willing to pay by plastic money? Paying fine online and definitely by cash is a good step by the traffic department. For starters, the traffic department should start fining their own kin who blatantly break the rules.

The best way still is confiscate the licence and make the offender compulsorily pay the fine at the RTO office/relevant using card system (no cash) and attend the 2 hour counselling. There was a lot of hullabaloo recently about the attendance of the 2 hr counselling by the offenders which many feel is a waste of time but are happy to pay the fine.

As a change in powai today I observed about 95% of the 2 wheeler riders sporting helmets in a span on 30 mins.
ghodlur is offline  
Old 8th January 2016, 18:07   #17
BHPian
 
kadanaJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 584
Thanked: 952 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

I do not see how this will curb corruption in any way. People who want to bribe a cop with cash will still......bribe a cop with cash. This changes nothing, but inconveniences people who genuinely want to pay the fine and not bribe the cop.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
The best way still is confiscate the licence and make the offender compulsorily pay the fine at the RTO office/relevant using card system (no cash) and attend the 2 hour counselling. There was a lot of hullabaloo recently about the attendance of the 2 hr counselling by the offenders which many feel is a waste of time but are happy to pay the fine.
Now this is the best way to reduce the number of traffic offences. People may not care about a Rs. 100-200 fine, but everyone's time is valuable. 2 hour counselling sessions or community service is the best way to to punish offenders.
kadanaJ is offline  
Old 9th January 2016, 13:34   #18
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,732 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

I don't think this move is there to reduce corruption at the 'driver' level; however, it will certainly reduce it at the 'system' level. It's anybody's guess how much money of that collected officially makes it to the government's coffers. Some of it has to get lost in the system. This is a sure shot way of ensuring 100% of the fines do.

That said, roadside corruption will increase even more. India has poor credit card penetration levels. Now a traffic cop will tell the driver 'don't go through the hassle of NEFT or visiting a bank. Pay me in cash and save yourself the trouble'.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick_Wanderlust View Post
In worst scenario, what if e-challan machine fails to operate or the constables gives excuses of finding it heavy to be carried around?
Seriously - how many things do they have to carry?

- Challan book
- Walkie Talkie
- Whistle
- Credit card machine
- Gun (officer)

Then we have first aid kits, speed guns etc. At this rate, they're going to need military-style backpacks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
If they want to solve corruption, they should ban pockets, or clothes. No place to hide money.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat View Post
At the end of the day, every cop (or team) needs to count the cash, tally it with challan and submit a statement of accounts to their chowki. Each chowki in turn has to make a collective single statement, again count the cash and send it to the head office along with the cash. And the head office too will have similar work before they deposit this money in some account of the state Govt.

So directly accepting the money through debit card / NEFT will save the time spent in these activities and free-up the productive time of the cops.
Very insightful, thanks!
GTO is offline  
Old 9th January 2016, 14:11   #19
BHPian
 
antz.bin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Pune
Posts: 977
Thanked: 3,828 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

The biggest benefit of this will be that the cop cannot harass the offender by quoting wrongly inflated fine amounts and then exhorting bribes in amounts higer than the fine.(eg. Rs.500 fine for no parking, after haggling coming down to 150 as bribe instead of the 100 rs. Legal fine.)

If it has to be paid online/by card, it has to be the correct amount. Also, with fine amounts set to increase 10-20 fold, paying by card will soon make a lot of sense.

Coming to the point of the Rs.9.5 as convenience charge, that will probably go up to 10.88 in a few days (including 14.5% service tax). Mark my words, they would seriously have the audacity to tax a fine.

Last edited by antz.bin : 9th January 2016 at 14:11. Reason: Typo
antz.bin is online now   (3) Thanks
Old 10th January 2016, 20:22   #20
Senior - BHPian
 
Mortis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 1,318
Thanked: 1,398 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

Can we be sure that the card machine the cops have wont mine our data ? Pin and other such info that ATM thieves use ? I wouldnt put it past cops to do the same thing. Why settle for a few hundreds in fines when they can empty a persons bank account ?
Mortis is offline  
Old 18th February 2016, 15:43   #21
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bombay
Posts: 1,410
Thanked: 2,172 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

We're now in February 2016, and there is no sign of this being implemented. Checked with a traffic cop in Chembur today, and he did not even know about such a proposal. They're still accepting cash, and have no provision for receiving fines by credit card.

Ho Hum, another hare brained idea consigned to the dustbin. Amen.
Lalvaz is offline  
Old 18th February 2016, 17:49   #22
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 510
Thanked: 1,881 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

Quote:
Originally Posted by AJITHAAA View Post
Not all folks using a motor vehicle have credit and debit cards, what then?
This was introduced in Bangalore long long ago and quickly withdrawn as majority of folks refused to pay by card for fear of leaving digital trace. Why not issue a ticket and let the folks pay at the police station or online like it happens any where else in the world? Why reinvent the wheel?
This is surely the most innovating method of additional revenue -INR 9.50 per transaction.

Tax upon tax upon tax and then some more, this will not end corruption.
There are way too many glitches and way too many loopholes.

Corruption is purely a will issue and unless the wheels of justice move fast enough offenders know that chances of being caught and punished are lesser to none.
Trojan is offline  
Old 7th July 2016, 20:01   #23
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Thane
Posts: 26
Thanked: 16 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

Yesterday got fined for a parking violation (no explicit no-parking sign) & a few other vehicles were parked as well. The RTO basically fixed a clamp on the wheels, after calling the number mentioned, the RTO guys came in the towing vehicle in 10 mins. I was asked for a fine of 600 INR (was issues a challan for the same), but the challan doesn't mention the nature of offence or it's perhaps too illegible.
Wasn't sure & was with family so didn't argue & paid up. Is the penalty amount correct ? Where can I find latest list of offences & associated penalties.
DasAuto is offline  
Old 7th July 2016, 20:10   #24
BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Pune
Posts: 467
Thanked: 482 Times
Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from January 12

Quote:
Originally Posted by DasAuto View Post
I was asked for a fine of 600 INR (was issues a challan for the same), but the challan doesn't mention the nature of offence or it's perhaps too illegible.
From what ever little knowledge I have, no parking should be 100 and not 600.
They may have added charges for towing/clamps etc, which is day light robbery.

You should visit the traffic control room nearby and ask for details.
freedom is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 8th July 2016, 13:18   #25
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Thane
Posts: 26
Thanked: 16 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

Quote:
Originally Posted by freedom View Post
From what ever little knowledge I have, no parking should be 100 and not 600.
They may have added charges for towing/clamps etc, which is day light robbery.

You should visit the traffic control room nearby and ask for details.
Thanks that's what I thought as well, I assumed they would've added the towing charges. Will try to get more information on this from the local chowky.
DasAuto is offline  
Old 8th July 2016, 15:37   #26
BHPian
 
King_pin09's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 459
Thanked: 649 Times
re: Mumbai: No cash payments for traffic fines from 12th January 2016

Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
How will this reduce corruption.
If traffic police were giving challan slips but pocketing the money themselves, it would have work, but under this scheme a corrupt cop can still accept cash and put the money in their pocket.
If they want to solve corruption, they should ban pockets, or clothes. No place to hide money.
Our cops have a work around for this also. They ask the motorists to deposit the money at a neighboring pan shop or alikes and leave. The cop receives signal confirmation of the money being deposited from the shop keeper. The cop collects his revenue at the end of the day before closing.
King_pin09 is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks