Traffic police go hi-tech with e-challan

Traffic police go hi-tech with e-challan

Vincent D'Souza, TNN, Oct 6, 2010, 10.14pm IST

HUBLI: On several occasions, traffic cops have found themselves on the other side of the law, by faking the challan book. But that is just impossible now in the twin cities, as the Hubli-Dharwad police commissionerate has now gone hi-tech.

For the first time in the country, e-challan machines have been introduced to do away with all kinds of manipulations and to bring in transparency in penalizing traffic violators. A total of 10 units of e-challan or handheld machines developed by Hubli-based Trinity Technologies and Software Solutions Private Limited, is being used by the traffic cops in twin cities for the past few weeks. The process of obtaining another 12 machines is on, traffic ACP Sanjeev M Patil told `The Times of India.'

He said this advanced technology will save cops a lot of time, as it would take 3-5 minutes for cops to manually note all necessary details such as type of vehicle, registration number, name of owner, fine amount etc. The e-challan machine, which has printers attached to it will generate the receipt instantly on punching the violation code.

Also, the total number of cases booked and amount of fine collected on a particular day will be known at the end of the day with just a click of a button. Earlier, it used to take at least half an hour for the cops to add figures from the manual receipts.

Patil said at the end of the day, the cops operating e-challan machines will transfer the data into the computer at the police station, which will be then moved into the central server located at the commissioner's office. The process of the adopting GPRS technology is on and once it is done, data will be directly stored in the central server without wires.

The user-friendly device will also help police improve their image, as there is no scope for public to doubt them regarding the amount of fine. They will not have to ask a series of questions or bargain with the police before paying up for the violation. Patil said the number of cases booked has also gone up by 30% since the introduction of e-challans.

The new device also has the provision to issue court notices and has a ISD card reader to detect smart cards. The software developer, Rajneesh Ganjiyal, said there is scope for further modification of the device.