The State government has announced a 50% rebate in fines in e-challan cases registered by traffic police across Karnataka if settled by February 11. This is a one-time measure to clear backlog cases that have not been settled.
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An order to this effect was issued by Pushpa V.S., Under Secretary, Transport Department, on Thursday. E-challan cases are those booked when violations are caught on traffic surveillance cameras.
People queue up to pay long-pending traffic fines
At a recent meeting chaired by the Karnataka Legal Services Authority, it was suggested that steps be taken to ensure the settling of these cases. Following this, the Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety proposed a one-time measure of a 50% rebate.
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Dr. M.A. Saleem, Special Commissioner (Traffic), Bengaluru, said there were over two crore e-challan cases which may total up to a penalty of ₹500 crore in the city. This is over 80% of such cases pending across the State.
Check cases pending
“Anyone can check for the cases pending against their vehicle on our website and make the payment. We will update the interface on the Bengaluru Traffic Police website by Friday and give a link,” he said, appealing to all vehicle owners in the city to check if there are any cases pending against their vehicles and make use of the rebate window.
After camera surveillance catches a violation, it recognises the vehicle registration number and a notice is generated for the person in whose name the vehicle is registered and sent to the registered address. However, while many do not respond, in many cases, the vehicle owner would have changed houses, vehicle ownership would have changed but records were not updated, a senior traffic police officer said.