From January 2020, swipe and pay traffic fine in Kolkata.
Don’t have enough cash to pay traffic fine on the spot? Here comes the solution. You will be able to pay traffic fines with a swipe of your credit or debit card from January 2020.
A year after Bidhannagar police introduced the new system of spot payment, Kolkata Police will provide sergeants with swipe machines for spot-fine collection. Police will, in fact, actively discourage cash transaction, advising sergeants to refer cases (where online transactions have been denied by motorists) to courts. “We had been mulling this change for some time now. We think we are finally ready for the experiment,” said DC (traffic) Santosh Pandey.
Currently, traffic fines can be paid online, using cards, offline at designated bank branches and in some cases, through payment service providers. The backlogs have been huge, forcing police and the state administration to offer waivers on fines.
There are two reasons for this new step, claimed Lalbazar. From the motorists’ point of view, this will help a driver — short on cash — to pay up without worry. Besides the SMS, there will be additional e-evidence that the fine had been settled. Two, from the point of view of cops, this will reduce corruption on the road. “A common public perception is that the sergeant does not hand over the fine collected to the treasury. This notion can be challenged under the new regime,” explained an officer.
“The spot fine using a POS machine is a part of the Integrated Traffic Management System. The machine generates receipt for the fine. This information is then fed to the central database. The offender receives intimation of challan, along with information on the fine paid, both on his cellphone and e-mail ID,” said an IPS officer.
The police said that they are yet to take a decision on those who refuse to pay online. “Depending on the response, we will develop a strategy,” said an officer from a south Kolkata traffic guard.
Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2019-12-01.
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