3L vehicles, unpaid challans of Rs 19.5 cr identified

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: In an attempt to crack a whip on the errant motorists, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has intensified its enforcement to identify vehicles violating traffic rules and refraining from paying fines.

According to a senior official from the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) in Bengaluru, around 3,71,516 vehicles plying on the city roads are carrying a fine of Rs 19.5 crore imposed on them due to various traffic violations.

The police have decided to collect the pending fine amounts in a phased manner.

"We have prepared a list of 123 vehicles that have pending fines of more than Rs 1 lakh each on them," the official said, adding that they will be issued notices asking to clear the dues at the earliest.

If the motorists do not respond to the notice or fail to pay the fine amount, a chargesheet will be filed against them at the court, the official added.

As per the list shared by the BTP, around 2,742 two-wheelers in the city have 3,61,294 e-challans generated against them with a pending fine of Rs 18,76,34,300.

A fine of Rs 69,00,900 has been imposed upon 100 cars involved in 8,603 traffic violations.

Similarly, 9 vans have 848 e-challans against them with Rs 4,67,500 pending fine amount. Two school buses with 156 violations and Rs 88000 in fines, one maxi cab with 82 violations and an outstanding fine of Rs 56,000 and four other vehicles involved in 433 cases and Rs 2,431,00 in pending fines.

The action was taken after the police noticed that a lot of motorists on Bengaluru roads have started ignoring traffic rules. It seems the presence of the AI-based cameras around Bengaluru has failed to faze several motorists as they continue to break traffic rules noticing the absence of the police from the junctions on a normal day.

On the contrary, it is worth mentioning that according to a survey conducted by an automobile company in 2021, nearly 80 per cent of motorists in Bengaluru do not comply with traffic rules when there is no policeman around.

Justifications given by the respondents for being non-compliant with the norms included- emergency, urgency to reach the destination, poor infrastructure, improper road signs, no policeman watching.

Lack of knowledge on road safety and traffic safety rules was also one of the reasons.