NEW DELHI: Delhi Police issued 1,73,921 challans for violation of traffic rules in the month after the amended Motor Vehicles Act came into effect on September 1. During the same period the previous year, they had issued 5,24,819 challans.
“The drop in the challan figure is due to all cases being sent to the court, as compounding power has not been given to the police so far in Delhi.
Secondly, there is focus on strict regulation and improving compliance along with effective enforcement,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Narendra Singh Bundela. “These challans have been sent to the court. The proceedings may be pending. The status we cannot give.
Earlier, when we had the compounding power, 95 per cent of the cases were compounded on the spot and about 5 per cent were sent to the court. Now 100 per cent of the cases are being sent to the court.
There is a procedural delay... paperwork increases. We seize the documents... it all requires time,” he explained.
In July, Parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to tighten road traffic regulations such as those related to the issuance of driving licence, and imposed stricter penalties for violations in an attempt to improve road safety.
According to data shared by the traffic police, they issued 3,900 challans on the first day of implementation of the new law, and the first week saw the issuance of about 5,000 challans every day.
The number of fatal accidents this year, according to the data available with police, was 991 until September 15.
The number was slightly higher last year. Meanwhile, several motorists in the city have alleged that there were irregularities in the e-challaning system of Delhi Police, who acknowledged that there was a technical glitch in the software that was created by National Informatics Centre.