Hyderabad first city to embed traffic violation videos in e-challans

Hyderabad will become the first city in the country to embed videos in traffic e-challans.

Hyderabad Joint Traffic Commissioner A V Ranganath said traffic police officials are currently being trained in taking short videos of traffic violators

"Challans is one of most effective ways to keep a check on traffic defaulters and violators. Hence, we are upgrading the way challans are recorded," Ranganath told NewsMeter

He said 10 to 15 seconds videos will be embedded with e-challans. "We will be required to increase the website's bandwidth and are currently working on it. The video inclusion in e-challans will be kick-off in a month," he told NewsMeter.

What is an e-challan?

A challan is an official paper that is issued to motor vehicle drivers for violating traffic rules. When a traffic challan is being issued, it implies that a person is responsible to pay the penalty depending on the type of offence made by him or her as per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Why is it issued?

An e-challan is issued for multiple traffic violations such as obstructive parking, jumping a red signal, over-speeding, drunk driving, and more.

How does an e-challan work?

"CCTVs installed on main roads capture a defaulter. Enforcement Officer gets the details of the defaulter with the Registration and the driving license number from the database. The fine amount is calculated as per the offense and sent to the defaulter," explained Ranganath.

However, there have been several cases where pictorial evidence was not enough.

"For example, if someone were driving on the wrong side or parked the vehicle in a way that causes traffic congestion it would be difficult to record the offense. Often, the defaulters try to get away with challans saying that the picture isn't enough to prove their traffic violation," Ranganath explained.

He said that videos will be concrete proof of any particular traffic violation.