Pune Motor Vehicle Court introduces e-filing system for traffic rule violation cases

From March 17, the Pune Motor Vehicle Court has started accepting claims related to traffic rule violations through the ‘e-filing’ system, making the court’s operations paperless; eliminating the need for traffic police from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, regional transport office (RTO) inspectors from Pune, and highway police to visit the court to file claims; and ultimately expediting the resolution of cases involving violation of traffic rules. This makes the Pune Motor Vehicle Court the first in the country to implement such a facility. From March 17 to April 7, a total of 3,560 cases have been filed through the e-filing system.

Manoj Patil, additional commissioner at the Pune police department, said, “Approximately 150,000 e-challans are issued every month for traffic rule violations. Around 15,000 cases out of these require filing in the Motor Vehicle Court. The previous process was time-consuming, with repetitive tasks at every stage, putting pressure on traffic police and the court administration. The e-filing system has simplified the claim filing process and reduced the strain on manpower, and will help in faster disposal of cases.”

As per the information shared by the Pune Motor Vehicle Court, violations such as drunken driving, speeding, and driving against the traffic direction result in legal action against motorists. Traffic and highway police or inspectors issue e-challans on the spot; or take photographs of the vehicles via CCTV or enforcement officers which are then processed as e-challans. If these challans are not paid or if the violation is of a serious nature, claims are filed in the Motor Vehicle Court. Over a million such claims are pending in the court, increasing its workload. Previously, enforcement officers had to visit the court to file these claims, consuming valuable time and causing delays due to administrative pressure. Responding to this, chief district judge Mahendra Mahajan and Motor Vehicle Court judge Amrit Birajdar introduced the e-filing system, allowing all claims to be filed online, eliminating the need to physically submit documents to the court.

The digital filing system has streamlined the process and improved the efficiency of traffic enforcement officers, speeding up judicial proceedings. Once a traffic rule violation case is filed through e-filing, an e-notice is generated and delivered to the concerned driver by the police. The system also allows drivers to submit their responses online, including power of attorney documents or other applications.