Police crack the whip on traffic offenders

No fitness certificate until dues are paid

Motorists with traffic violation dues will not find it easy to get fitness certificates for their vehicles. In an attempt to crack down on offenders, RTOs have been directed not to issue certificates to motorists.

A senior official with the Transport Department said, “The rule was being practised by the RTOs even earlier. However with fresh directions, it will be enforced strictly. Fitness certificates will not be issued until the vehicle owner clears all the dues and gets an NOC from the traffic police.”

An order was issued to RTOs on September 30.

According to the traffic police, around ₹100 crore in dues are yet to come in from cases that were booked through contactless enforcement, which was started due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite the traffic department issuing notices to owners to clear their fines, they have failed to pay them,” said a traffic police official.

The traffic department has earlier issued notices to offenders, a majority of whom drove commercial vehicles, but they failed to respond.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Traffic East M. Narayan, ₹228 crore is due from motorists since last one year.

“Traffic violations are on the rise due to contactless enforcement and the limited presence of traffic police on the roads during the lockdown. As a result, traffic sense and discipline among the motorists disappeared,” said Mr. Narayan. “The transport and traffic departments are concerned. In order to bring back discipline, strict enforcement will be back and and recovery of dues is one among the several measures taken up,” Mr. Narayan, said.

The matter was reportedly brought to the attention of the Chief Secretary at a recent review meeting. “Directions have been given to the Transport Department to coordinate with the traffic police to recover the dues,” said another police official.

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