The Bengaluru City Traffic Police has definitely made best use of technology, to make their task of enforcing rules and collecting fines easier, with the ‘Enforcement Automation Centre’, which issues/delivers traffic violation notices to ones doorstep. However there seem to be some aspects where improvement is possible, which will help an offender to understand their offence and pay up for it.
- First, the notice provides no information on the police station which has issued this notice. So, if the offender needs more information about the offence, they will first have to visit the closest traffic police station and enquire, during week days.
- Second, when the violation notice has date, time and place of violation but does not have adequate information, one is left to wonder in which area of Bengaluru the violation happened.
- Third, though the online system has provision for uploading proof, it is limited to only those captured on surveillance camera. Since not all violations are captured on camera, the offender should just accept the fine and pay it up online, without any proof. If the offender does want some additional information, then they have to first identify the issuing police station and then get the proof. And how people are made to run from one police station to another is evident in the form of multiple write ups on the internet.
Why will anyone do all this, when the fine amount is minimal, especially for offences such as jumping signal and wrong parking, which is only Rs 100/-? So offenders prefer to pay the fine, as it saves them time. Contesting the offence will cost them time and money. It will be interesting to know to what extent such small offences (Rs 100/-) contribute to the revenue of the fine collected!
Since the traffic police have made their task easy, it is now time to make technology work for the ‘offenders’ as well. The enforcement automation centre should provide information on, 1) the station issuing the notice 2) photo proof of the offence – all of which should be accessible online. Without these, the notice should not be served.
Inspite of the proof, if an offender wishes to contest the offence, then an online provision should be made for the same. And the traffic police should maintain records of the number of such contestations. No offender will go to the extent of contesting a violation when there is adequate proof.
These improvements dont seem to be too complex, when compared to the system that is already in place. Hope the Bengaluru City Traffic Police will only issue notices which have adequate (photo) evidence along with it!
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s own.
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