By swapping bulky challan books for a mobile app, sanitation inspectors of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) have been able to catch more litterbugs in the act, collect evidence of the offence and charge them for creating insanitary conditions.
In August, the NDMC switched from handing out physical challans for insanitary conditions to recording the offences through an app — MChallan. After using the app for two months, the civic body has found the number of challans as well as the amount recovered in fines shoot up, NDMC Secretary Chanchal Yadav told The Hindu on Friday.
As per the NDMC Act, sanitation inspectors can issue challans for a range of insanitary conditions, including littering by individuals, garbage collecting around street stalls and shops displaying their wares on the streets.
The app allows them to take a picture of the offence and generate a challan as per the relevant section of the NDMC Act. The challan is geo-tagged, so the location of the offence can’t be disputed. The challan is then sent to the offender via text and a copy is also available for municipal magistrates, who decide the quantum of fine to be charged. The magistrates have been provided tablets to access the app, said Ms. Yadav.
The app has not only allowed inspectors to issue more challans, but the average amount of each fine has also gone up as the magistrate is provided with photos of the offence, making it difficult to let off offenders, said Ms. Yadav.
In figures
As a result, in September a total of 1,893 challans were issued, more than double issued in September 2015 - 746. In September 2015, the amount realised from fines was around Rs.2 lakh, while this September the NDMC earned about Rs.10 lakh.
“Since the magistrates have photos with the challan, they are handing out fines towards the higher limit. The average challan amount used to be Rs.150, but is now Rs.600,” said Ms. Yadav.
Monitoring of challans and fines has also improved, with senior officials keeping a track of the daily work of sanitary inspectors.
“The aim is not to collect more in fines, but to create a deterrent. We have found that vendors have started cleaning up on their own because they know that they will be challaned,” said Ms. Yadav.
Eventually, the NDMC is planning to extend the app service for all municipal offences, including illegal parking and encroachment.
Average amount of fine has also gone up as officials have photographic evidence of violation
