Cops continue clicking photos on personal mobile phones

Traffic police personnel across the state have been ordered to click photographs of vehicles violating traffic rules only on the e-challan devices and not on their mobile phones. However, it has come to light that, owing to the shortage of devices, traffic police personnel attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police are still using their personal mobile phones for the purpose. The standing orders restraining the use of mobile phones were issued by the office of the additional director general of police (ADG-State Traffic) last week.

The traffic management force currently has 110 members, who are assisted by traffic wardens provided by private manpower agencies hired by the municipal corporation. However, the traffic department, which needs at least 104 e-challan devices, has just 60. As a stop gap arrangement, a large number of traffic police personnel were using their personal mobile phones and later uploading the information to the e-challan machine .

“We have asked our personnel to use only the e-challan devices. Anyone found to be using mobile phones will face action. A requisition has already been made for more devices from the department and we expect to get them soon,” confirmed a senior officer attached to MBVV’s traffic department. Aside from the possibility of on-the-spot deletions in exchange for bribes and unclear images of vehicle license plates as they are transferred to devices, photos taken with personal cameras can not only be misused, but the time and location of the violation is difficult to prove, unlike e-challan devices equipped with global positioning system (GPS), which allows the electronic challan system to collect fines from traffic rule violators on the spot. The sophisticated handheld e-challan devices are part of “One State, One e-Challan”—the government’s ambitious integrated traffic law enforcement project across the state.