Traffic cops’ house hunt to collect pending fines pays off

The traffic police have around Rs 400 crore in pending e-challan fines. Representation pic

In a month, a team of 50 traffic police constables have recovered pending e-challan fines worth Rs 1.5 crore through a door-to-door collection drive. The traffic police have come to believe that this is the most effective way of collecting pending fines, though they still have a long way to go, with Rs 400 crore pending. Sources said that owing to the drive's success, the traffic police have been mulling increasing the strength of the team.

In the past month, the traffic police have sent notices regarding pending dues to over 9,000 people, of which around 5,000 have paid the e-challan fines and the rest have asked for time to pay the money.

A team of two traffic police constables started visiting people's residences for pending fines on June 14. The constables were given training on how to conduct themselves and were equipped with body cameras to record the proceedings.

Only motorists who are repeat offenders with heavy amounts in pending fines are visited by the traffic police. File pic

A traffic police officer said that most people agree to pay the pending fines. "However since their pending dues run into Rs 20,000 or more, many pay half the amount and ask for time to pay the rest. The pandemic has also affected people's ability to pay," the officer said.

There are some people who pay the balance amount online. "Some note down the constables' contacts. As and when the money is arranged, they call them to pay the rest," the officer said.

"We have sent notices to 9,018 people to pay e-challan dues, out of which around 5,000 have paid the fine amount. The remaining have sought time," the officer added. Only those with a minimum pending amount of Rs 20,000 are paid visits to collect dues.

June 14
When the door-to-door collection began

9,018
No. of people who have been given notices to pay dues

5,000
Approx. no. of people who have complied with notices