Frequent traffic offenders will soon be unable to slip the Delhi Traffic Police's clutches as the ambitious e-challan project is expected to be rolled out by August 15.
At present, the project is on trial run at 10 out of 43 traffic circles in Delhi. Trials of the hand-held devices were initiated in only five circles. On an average, 950 challans are being issued daily on the spot, using 300 hand-held devices.
"The 10 circles include Kalkaji, Mehrauli, lajpat Nagar, Parliament Street, Chanakyapuri, Defence Colony, Model Town, Gandhi Nagar, Punjabi Bagh and Darya Ganj and would be extended to other parts of the city soon. More 800 devices are expected to be supplied soon by the vendor," said Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Taj Hassan.
"However, the on-the-spot payment using credit or debit cards will take time as the payment gateway is yet to be finalised," said a senior traffic police official. The e-challan system, once operational, will help the police to keep a tab on repeat offenders as the data fed in these hand-held devices will be linked to the central sever. A record of all traffic violations against defaulting drivers and vehicles will be maintained. Using this data, stiffer penalties will be levied on offenders for second and subsequent traffic violations.
According to the estimates, about seven prosecutions are made per minute in Delhi. last year, over 35 lakh challans were issued generating a collection of Rs 51.58 crore. At present, traffic police only has the vehicle ownership details and with the process getting fully operational, data will be shared with the Transport Department, which will be fed in the central server for easy reference.