Ludhiana: 2,000 pending traffic challans forwarded to dist courts

Ludhiana As many as 2,000 pending challans of traffic violation that were issued before September 30 have been sent to district courts following the orders of Regional Transport Authority (RTA).

NS Dhaliwal from the RTA said that the challans have been shifted to the court as they were pending for a long time as no one was turning up to submit the fine. “We do not have any judicial powers to impound vehicles in case the traffic violator fails to pay the challan amount after the last day of submission of fine. The court can summon the traffic violator to submit the challan. After seeking the permission, the challans were shifted to the judicial courts for further decision,” said Dhaliwal.

A transport department employee, requesting anonymity, said that most traffic violators, especially auto rickshaw drivers, do not generally appear before the RTA office as due to the revision in Motor Vehicle Act, the challan amount, especially for commercial vehicles, has increased many folds.

Since regional licensing authorities do not have the power to remit or revise amounts, such challans are sent to the local magistrate to decide the issue.

The move is being linked with the recent development where chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had ordered to waiver of challans for auto rickshaw drivers. Channi, during his impromptu visit to the auto rickshaw union site on Gill Road, had announced that new registration certificates will be issued soon to the auto-rickshaw drivers in order to prevent harassment.

CM Channi had also announced that all the challans which are pending will be waived off. He had asked the auto-rickshaw drivers to follow traffic rules, and work honestly.

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