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Police to Andhra Pradesh\'s traffic violators: Pay pending penalties or face action

Police warn violators that their vehicles might be seized if they do not pay penalties

TIRUPATI: If you have been a traffic violator and haven’t bothered to pay an e-challans, beware! Traffic police are in pursuit of errant motorists roaming freely without paying fines in spite of receiving e-challans from the department.

Traffic police are advising that this is the time to pay the penalties or be prepared to be stopped right in the middle of the road where your vehicle may be seized. There are also chances of your license being cancelled until you pay or even a charge sheet being filed against you.

The AP traffic police department have more than valid reasons to do so as majority of errant motorists have failed to pay fines though police have been issuing e-challans for various traffic violations. For instance, in Tirupati Urban limits alone, only 36 per cent of the total challans generated till date have been paid.

Data shows that traffic police have issued over 3.02 lakh traffic violation slips amounting to over `15.33 crore since the e-challan was introduced here in 2018. However, till date only 1.09 lakh e-challans, amounting to around Rs 5.34 crore have been paid, while over 1.93 lakh e-challans for Rs 9.98 crore are unpaid. The data clearly shows that the recovery of dues has remained low despite various efforts by the police.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Tirupati Urban traffic DSP Bandi Mallikarjun said “More than the revenue, we want the penalties to act as a discouragement, curbing traffic violations and ensuring road discipline among vehicle users. Hence, we have launched a special drive to identify violators who are roaming freely without paying fines.”

“The traffic police have been given gadgets to check pending dues on the spot. Based on the number of pending e-challans, police will take appropriate action against the violators. If anyone is found with a few e-challans pending, their vehicles will be impounded, taken to the police station and released only after the fines have been paid,” Mallikarjun said.

In case of defaulters with several e-challans pending, a charge sheet might well be filed against them and in the cases of motorists repeatedly caught violating traffic rules, police may approach courts seeking arrest warrants against them.

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