KAKKANAD: It is unsure whether the public is averse to going the old way of writing down their complaints about traffic violations or the motorists in the city have cleaned up their act. Either way, there is a sharp dip in the number of written complaints registered at the RTO (enforcement) Office at Civil Station here.
As per the report sourced from the RTO office, the written complaints against traffic violations and rash driving in the district has come down to four and five per week.Earlier, the department had received a whopping number of complaints against violations, including harassment, running without meter, overloading in auto rickshaws, bus and van and over speeding.“Besides the enforcement activitis undertaken by the department, we had also encouraged the public to come up with complaints against irresponsible driving. But, there is a sharp fall in the number of complaints from the public these days,” says N K Raveendran, RTO (Enforcement).
He said that the original number will be 20 times more during enforcement drives.“In a recent drive, we have taken action against 80 auto rickshaws for carrying more students than permitted. Interestingly, such activities are taking place before the eyes of the public. But, most of them are reluctant to file a written complaint before the authorities concerned,” he added.
The situation is same at Regional Transport Office and the Traffic Police department too. “The department had received around 100 complaints in a month but it has now come down to one to two a week,” said BJ Antony, RTO, Ernakulam.
Meanwhile, officials say it is the dependence on technology and the new methods to Whatsapp their complaints that prompts the people to ditch paper and pen. “Through Whatsapp, we get more than 50 complaints a day. The influence of these might have resulted in the decreasing trend of written complaints. Then there is ‘Third Eye’, ‘Facebook’, Complaint Cell and the authority’s phone numbers are always there to help the public,” said Rishi Raj Singh, Transport Commissioner.