Delhi: After delays, e-challan finally sees light of day

August 13, 2013

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HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi.

The much-awaited e-challan project of the traffic police has finally kicked-off in the city though the official inauguration of the project will take place at the end of this month.

“We made all 1,200 e-challan devices operational a few days ago. However, certain technical glitches remain which are being sorted out. We hope to formally launch the project by end of the month and make available the e-payment option in the devices,” said Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic).

On Sunday, the police issued 2,239 e-challans to traffic violators in the Capital.

The e-challan has replaced a traffic policeman’s age-old challan book. It aims to help the police catch repeat offenders as it will be linked to the central database and will provide the policeman a record of previous traffic violations, if any. Traffic police claim the device will enable them to raise at least Rs. 120 crore per annum through e-challans, about three times the average annual amount of Rs. 45 crore.

With the launch of this project, Delhi has joined the league of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, where such a system is already in place, though sources said the devices are showing some glitches like heating up and connectivity problems.

The hand-held devices have been distributed among policemen in all traffic circles and are together likely to generate nearly 2,500-3,000 challan receipts every day, said a senior traffic police official.

The police have also received a go-ahead for the e-payment gateway from the ministry of home affairs and have tied up with State Bank of India for the facility, said officials.

The e-challan project had faced a number of administrative and technical roadblocks. These included the machine malfunctioning due to weather conditions and the inability of policemen to operate the devices.

Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com