The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Pay fine without any hassle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 08, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Pay fine without any hassle

K. Srinivas Reddy

In addition to vehicle number, a host of other details will have to be punched into the device

GOING THE MODERN WAY: New equipment for keeping a check on traffic violation. -Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

HYDERABAD: Let's accept it! You wouldn't mind paying the fine for jumping the signal or not wearing the helmet. But you get angry with the policeman for the way he would flag down your vehicle and snatch the keys before issuing the challan.

Realising that most of the conflicts between the rule violators and enforcers could be avoided, if only the physical interface is brought down to minimum level, the Cyberabad police initiated a new system where the policeman would only scribble the vehicle number and send the challan later by registered post.

But the process is not that simple. Months have been spent on writing a computer programme that would check multiple variables from the Transport Deparment's database before generating the challan. In addition to the vehicle number, a host of other details will have to be punched into the device. These include, the place of violation, time, type of violation etc.

The data from the handheld device is downloaded into a computer at the police station every day evening and then transmitted to the control room on a broadband connection.

The programme written specifically for this project automatically collates the data and checks various variables from the database of the Transport Department. "In case of any incompatibility of data, the challan will not be generated at all," the Commissioner, Cyberabad, M. Mahendar Reddy explains.

ESeva operations

For example, if there is any mistake on part of the policeman in entering the data, the system will immediately spot it. As the types of violations are given specific numeric codes, a wrong entry could lead to erroneous generation of challan like a car driver being issued the challan for not wearing a helmet. The system would compare the compatibility of the data to the type of the vehicle. A motorcyclist cannot be penalised for not wearing a seat belt. The programme will also maintain a list of inconsistent data like multiple ownership of a vehicle or incorrect data being present, so that the Transport Department could be alerted.

The best part of the eChallan is that the programme is synchronised with eSeva operations.

The violator, on receiving the challan, can pay the penalty in any eSeva centre and on payment, the system will automatically update the central data base too.

Presently police are trying out the system in some places on city outskirts on a trial basis.

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