Bengaluru traffic offenders with over ₹50k fines to get summons

Bengaluru:

he Bengaluru traffic police have intensified their efforts to collect pending fines from serial traffic violators, targeting vehicle owners with outstanding fines exceeding ₹50,000. In a statement to the media, joint commissioner of police, MN Anucheth, said, 2,681 vehicles in the city have accumulated fines above the ₹50,000 threshold for traffic violations.

To address this issue, a concerted drive has been initiated by the police to enforce payment from these violators. Anucheth warned that failure to comply would result in charges being filed, leading to court summons for the offenders.

“At least 2,681 vehicles in Bengaluru have over ₹50,000 pending fines for traffic violations. We have started a drive to collect fines from these violators. If they fail to pay even after this we file a chargesheet at the court and the court will issue summons to such offenders. These cases under Motor Vehicles Act can be charge-sheeted if the fine is not paid,” Anucheth said.

Anucheth further highlighted a common practice where vehicles with substantial fines are transferred to new owners without settling the outstanding dues. Often, the vehicle registration is changed while the owner’s address remains unchanged. To tackle this, the police are identifying such vehicles and issuing notices to the owners, compelling them to clear their pending fines.

A senior police officer pointed out that in a recent case, Mala Dinesh, a resident of Bengaluru’s Ganganagar area, has firsthand experience with the stringent actions taken by traffic authorities. Her TVS Scooty Pep+ was seized by traffic police due to an astounding tally of 634 traffic violations, resulting in fines totalling ₹ 3.25 lakh, an amount four times the scooter’s on-road price in Bengaluru.

The increase in unpaid tickets has increased as in January, the traffic police issued orders for the personnel to focus on traffic regulation rather than the enforcement drives. The policemen otherwise busy issuing challans during their surprise documentation checks are now deployed at several junctions across the city, particularly during the peak hours. According to police, currently, more than 80% of the traffic violations in the city are booked using cameras.

In a related development, the Karnataka high court has intervened to streamline the process of auctioning abandoned vehicles seized by the police. Previously, vehicles were auctioned off after six months, following notification in the official gazette. However, the court has now mandated a shorter period of up to three months for auctioning, depending on the age of the abandoned vehicle.

The interim order, issued by a division bench, seeks to expedite the disposal of abandoned vehicles to alleviate issues such as congestion and hazards on footpaths. The court outlined specific timelines for auctioning based on the age of the vehicle. Vehicles older than 15 years may be auctioned after 30 days, while those between one and five years old require a three-month notification period before auction. For vehicles aged between five and 15 years, auctioning can commence two months after gazette notification.

The Bengaluru police informed the court about the identification of a two-acre land in Mallasandra village for storage of abandoned vehicles until their disposal through auction or scrapping, following the law.

Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) assured the court of measures to regulate hawkers on footpaths, aiming to strike a balance between pedestrian access and street vending. This collaborative effort between the BBMP and police aims to address concerns raised by the court regarding the occupation of footpaths by parked vehicles.