In a big relief to vehicle owners and RTC drivers having unpaid traffic violation challans, the Telangana police have offered a one-time opportunity to clear off the pending bills.
A startling ₹1,750 crore is lying as an outstanding amount to be collected as penalties for more than six crore traffic challans from all police units across the State.
The new ‘offer’ will be open from March 1 and shall continue throughout the month. “We got in-principle approval from the State government to provide respite to people by offering discounts on pending challans,” a senior IPS officer told The Hindu. As a result, the e-Challan online interface is being rehashed with new options to avail of one-time discounts, he said, appealing to people to encash the opportunity.
Discount formula
Explaining the ‘discount formula’ to be introduced for the first time in Telangana from March 1, another officer said that a whopping 75% discount is offered on the outstanding amount for two and three-wheelers and 50% for Light Motor Vehicles and Heavy Motor Vehicles. A large number of challans pertains to not wearing helmet or overspeeding.
For instance, if a bike has ₹10,000 penalty for various traffic violations, the motorist has to pay only ₹2,500 and ride free. The discount includes ₹35 service charges on each challan. “A service charge of ₹15 on each challan will be given to the Postal Department and rest will be settled internally,” he said.
70% for buses
Even the TSRTC bus drivers, who were slapped with thousands of traffic violation challans, can heave a sigh of relief as the new offer gives them a steep discount of 70% on the outstanding amount and they are required to pay only 30%.
The State government estimates a big bonanza coming its way as it targets a realisation of anywhere between ₹500 crore and ₹700 crore in the exchequer.
Another offer
Another offer that would cheer the citizens is a 90% discount on challans raised over non-wearing of face masks during the pandemic. “Penalty for not wearing or not properly wearing a face mask is ₹1,000. We are offering a 90% discount in the segment. Citizens can pay only ₹100 and get rid of the challans,” the officer said. The police are also offering an 80% discount on challans issued for pushcarts.
He said that though the practice of issuing e-challans was criticised by a large section of society as it was beyond their capacity to pay the fines, it was never about raising revenues. “The concept was introduced for the safety of citizens and it will continue. As the pandemic has pushed many into an economic crisis, this is our attempt to ease their burden and start fresh,” the officer said.
