BENGALURU: In the first nine months this year, the total fine collected by Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) in 2017 has exceeded the total penalty collected in 2016. They are inching towards the Rs 100 crore mark for the very first time. As of September, the total fine collected was Rs 84.28 crore, which is more than the Rs 67.07 crore collected in 2016 and the Rs 70.44 crore collected in 2015.Estimates show that BTP will generate around Rs 113 crore this year, and they have attributed the spurt in revenue to the revision of fine amount for traffic offences in September 2016.
Revenue source
Out of theRs 84.28 crore collected till September 30, about 80 per cent of the fines — Rs 67.07 crore — were collected from offences under the Motor Vehicles Act. This involves violations such as wrong parking, reckless driving, riding without helment, drunk driving, skipping signals and some others.
The remaining amount was collected in towing charges (Rs 15.87 crore), cases filed under Karnataka Police Act and some other cases.
Towing charge
Towing charges, which contributed to almost 19 per cent of the fines collected this year, has seen an unprecedented increase. After collecting Rs 3.06 crore in 2016, BTP has now collected five times the amount by September this year — Rs 15.78 crore. The amount is also close to the total towing charges collected in ten years between 2007 to 2016, which was about Rs 20.11 crore. By the end of the year, total towing charges to be collected are estimated at Rs 21 crore.
When contacted, R Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said that due to a surge in the number of vehicles, wrong parking cases have increased.“One of the problems we face is that though people are ready to pay Rs 100 as parking fine, they are not ready to remove their vehicles. This leads to traffic congestion on busy roads,” he added.
Most of the complaints received by the BTP are related to wrong parking. “We still don’t have vehicles to tow mini buses or heavy vehicles, which are also major culprits of traffic congestion,” he said.
Fine amounts for other traffic offences too might increase shortly. “Fines collected cannot be considered as revenue, loss or profit. The objective of levying fines is to ensure the safety of motorists and pedestrians,” he informed.
Speaking to Express, V Ravichander, urban expert, said that fines were a good deterrent against violating traffic rules, and helps the traffic police ensuring disciplined driving in the city.
“We need more penalties and a system to disqualify licenses, especially for cases of footpath driving,” he said.Number of cases filed and amount of fines collected will increase, if there is efficiency in identifying traffic offenders. “Only one in 10 traffic offenders are paying fines,” he added.