Despite a complete lockdown between March 24 and May 31, and restrictions on vehicular movement continuing for some weeks after that, the Bengaluru City Police have collected more fines for traffic violations this year than in 2019. Police collected Rs 2,94,79,450 in traffic fines this year up to October 31, which is a 42% increase over the previous year’s quantum of Rs 2,06,89,035.

This is due to an increase in the number of cases booked. Bengaluru Traffic Police CCTV cameras in 175 locations caught 50,34,554 offences up to October 31 this year, compared to 39,45,831 in 2019. 

Traffic officers on the ground say CCTV cameras caught several vehicles flouting traffic rules since the lockdown.

“When we catch traffic violators and check their history, there is a list of violations such as no helmet because many assume that due to Covid-19, there are no restrictions,” a traffic constable at Jeevan Bhima Nagar told TNIE.

Traffic cops have been given a target for each type of violation, an officer said. The BTP has most of its cops only wanting to book contactless cases, which has helped the department book other traffic violations too.

The department has also observed that due to the contactless policing, the fine amounts have increased drastically. However, the challenge of getting people to pay up still continues.

Often, challans sent to violators’ addresses yield no response as the address provided could be wrong for various reasons such as change in vehicle ownership or a change in the violators’ address that has not been updated. 

Although the RTOs have been instructed not to issue fitness certificates to motorists who have dues pending on their vehicles, the reality seems different. Earlier this week, the transport department formed 10 special squads to get hold of traffic violators in the state.

An internal notification was sent on November 4 for the team to report violations to the jurisdictional Regional Transport Offices (RTO) for suspension of license.

A campaign is also likely to be conducted in the following days to spread awareness as November is considered pollution awareness month.

The traffic police will also soon get 150 body cams, as part of the central government’s modernisation scheme with a budget of Rs 150 lakh.

Cameras attached to the shirt button which will record for 8 hours are being procured and will likely hit the streets in three months’ time. “We are expecting that this will help reduce traffic violations,” a senior officer said.

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