e-challaning resumes in city, traffic offenders to get challans at doorsteps

Now, if one jumps traffic lights or commit any other violation, the traffic police will capture the violation and send challan at offender's doorsteps. It became possible with the restarting of the e-challaning system in the Ludhiana Commissionerate.

The system had been operational in the city about six years ago but it was lying shut owning to ongoing construction projects and upgrade of traffic signals. Interestingly, when the same was operational in the city, it ran well and served as a major detterant to the traffic rules offenders. Daily, the traffic police would capture violations and send challans along with pictures of offenders at their doorsteps.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Jatin Bansal, who played a major role in restarting the e-challaning system in city, told The Tribune on Monday that: “The online challaning system has been made operational at several traffic signals in the city and challans are already being sent at doorsteps of offenders. The traffic police have deployed a special team at the control room, where they regularly monitor cameras set up at traffic lights and after noticing any violation, a photograph of the offender with the offence is captured and after obtaining registered address by scanning the number plate of the vehicle, challan is being sent to the house owner of the vehicle”.

Bansal said after the challan reaches the house of the vehicle owner, penalty had to be deposited through the online link and the offender would have one-month time after which challan would be sent to court. Once the challan reaches court, the offender could not deposit penalty online and only court would levy penalty.

When asked if after receiving challans, offender adopt dilly-dallying attitude and did not deposit penalty, the ACP said in such a condition, the traffic police would update the non-deposition of challan amount in the vehicle owner’s record at the Regional Transport Office and the drawback of the same was that the vehicle owner might not be able to get NOC or any other documents from the RTA office in the time of need pertaining to the vehicle.

He also mentioned that if the vehicle was sold by the owner and the buyer, who was yet to transfer vehicle in his/her name and update the owner’s detail in the records of the transport office, in such a case, challan would be sent to the registered address of the vehicle owner and the latter will be liable to deposit the challan amount.

Meanwhile, the ACP Bansal appealed to city residents to follow the traffic rules in letter and in spirit else, the third eye of the traffic police would not spare them. E-challaning would mainly capture violations such as driving without helmet, without seat belt, dangerous driving, tripple riding, red light jump and other offences.