Lucknow traffic cops told to focus on offenders, not just paper checking

In a major relief to the common man, the state traffic police directorate issued an advisory to all district police chiefs on Thursday to not stop commuters merely to check registration papers and other documents related to vehicles, both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

The circular issued by deputy inspector general (DIG), traffic, Rajesh Modak said the advisory was issued amid reports of inconvenience being faced by commuters across the state.

He said the police must first focus on checking commuters who were not wearing helmets/seatbelts or violating traffic norms. Modak said the police may check the registration papers and other documents related to the vehicle if anybody was found violating traffic and road safety norms.

Inspector general of the traffic directorate Deepak Ratan confirmed that the advisory had been issued as cops got involved in unnecessary checking of vehicles’ registration papers which often led to corruption. He said the traffic cops were meant mainly to control vehicular movement and act against people violating road safety norms rather than checking each and every commuter.

A senior official of the traffic directorate said the advisory also had special mention about the checking of four-wheelers, especially sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and other luxury cars. “This has been specifically mentioned because generally riders of two-wheeler and other small vehicles are targeted by the police while SUVs or other luxury vehicles go unchecked,” he said, adding, “Use of black films and pressure horns is mostly in SUVs and other luxury vehicles”.

He said the advisory also suggested to the district police chiefs to maintain a common trend in fines and compounding fees in an unbiased manner.

The official said this had been mentioned as there were reports from different districts about exorbitant fines on commuters after the amended in Motor Vehicles Act was enforced on September 1. The transport department has already sent a proposal for revision of the current rates of compounding fees with regard to compoundable offences and the government will issue a notification after the proposal is cleared by the Cabinet.

Offences that can be settled on the spot by paying a fee to avoid prosecution are known as ‘compounding’ offences.

The transport department, according to sources, has proposed the rates of compounding fees to be around 50% of the amount of fines prescribed in the new Act. However, new compounding rates are likely to be almost the same as are applicable in the state at present because UP made a hefty increase in the rates of compounding fees in June last in anticipation of the new fines.