Motorists are not having it easy nowadays for drunken driving, having to cough up hefty fines for the traffic offence and attending counselling sessions and court hearings. But their problem seems not to be ending there, thanks to a goof-up by the Hyderabad Traffic police officials.
Even after paying huge fines, the e-challan status of some of those of caught in an inebriated state shows that they still have to pay the fine amount for the offence.
Confusion
According to rules, the fine amount imposed for drunken driving is collected in the court and is not part of the e-challan system. This confusion is leading to unpleasant experience for them.
V. Pavan Kumar, a civil engineer and resident of Somajiguda explains, “I was stopped by a traffic policeman recently near R.P. Road. He checked the fines due on my car and informed that I had to pay Rs. 3,000 which included Rs. 2,000 fine imposed on me over a weekend last month. I clearly explained to him that I was caught for drunken driving and even paid the penalty in court. However, he refused to budge and insisted that I pay the full fine. Such goof-ups are ridiculous and the traffic police should be more careful about them.”
Another drunken driving offender, P. Ramesh Reddy, was taken aback when he saw on the Hyderabad Traffic Police website that his e-challan amount also included his penalty.
“I had paid the penalty almost six months back, but I was shocked to see the same amount as pending in e-challan on my car registration number. I tried calling up the concerned traffic police station and explaining the officials, but nothing much happened,” he said.
At receiving end At the receiving end of such complaints, the Hyderabad Traffic Police officials say that they are addressing the issue since the past couple of days.
“There was a manual mistake that was being committed by the constables concerned which has resulted in the confusion,” informed M. Narsing Rao, Inspector, e-challans.
“Every time drivers paid the penalty for drunken driving to the court, the constables have been entering it into the database, which they should not have done. But we have rectified it now and have deleted all the unwanted penalty amounts from the e-challan system. We are taking steps so that this confusion is not repeated again.” He also informed that awareness training on this issue is being given to the lower-level traffic officials.
