PANAJI
Goa government’s claim about enhancing vehicular traffic discipline is now being overshadowed by a flaw in the system.
There have been complaints of inaccuracies in the challans generated and issued, matter which has forced numerous vehicle owners to file their grievances with the Transport Department seeking rectification.
What adds to their woes is ineffective response to complaints. Several such cases have come to the notice of The Goan, which exposes serious discrepancies.
From fines mistakenly issued to wrong vehicle owners to challan receipts sans basic details such as location, date, and time of the alleged traffic violation, several cases are being reported despite the roads equipped with AI cameras fitted by a private firm – hired by the government.
In one such case, a vehicle owner was bewildered to receive a notification from the transport department citing a violation in Aguada, despite the fact that he was physically present in Panaji and his two-wheeler was parked at his residence.
The details on the challan did not match his vehicle as the photograph on the challan depicted a non-geared bike whereas the complainant owns a geared motorcycle having private registration.
The accompanying remark on the challan alleged ‘the misuse of the vehicle for clandestine purposes,’ as the department imposed a hefty fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 192 A of the Motor Vehicles Act.
“The MV is registered under private series whereas found plying for clandestine purposes @Rs 5000 per day and took Rs 1,000 as an advance,” it said indicating the violating yellow-coloured Fascino bike – printed on the challan -- was illegally leased out to tourist/s.
The challan copy, in possession of The Goan, stated, “Driving or causing or allowing to use a motor vehicle in contravention of the provisions of sub section (1) of section 66 of Act or in contravention of any condition of a permit relating to the route on which or the area in which or that purpose for which the vehicle may be used.”
Despite lodging a grievance on the Parivahan portal, the matter, upon transfer to the Panaji Regional Transport Office (RTO), has remained stagnant with no response.
In another instance, a motorcyclist received a challan for ‘not obeying traffic signal.’ Surprisingly, the challan lacked location details of the alleged violation. “The challan was issued to me more than a week after the violation occurred. I don’t recall where I jumped the traffic signal. There are no details on the challan,” he said. Despite the uncertainty, the alleged ‘violator’ opted to pay the Rs 500 fine online to avoid penal action.
The Goan spoke with a senior officer in the Transport Department who conceded receiving such complaints and attributed the errors to either technical glitches or at times, oversights by the operator responsible for verifying details. He, however, clarified that there are no errors in locations.
“At times, when viewing number plates from certain angles, the letters/numbers may appear differently. This leads to the printing of incorrect registration numbers. During the verification process by L&T cameras for violation shortlisting, operators can identify these inaccuracies. The system involves two checking levels - one by the operators and another requiring approval from inspectors. However, it can skip these officials as well because they review hundreds of violations daily,” he said.
The department has also received several grievances, which are being addressed, the officer added.
