The humble bike or the scooter has a special place in the hearts of urban commuters. That is because; in addition to the aforementioned, it is a great mode of transport that helps you beat the frustrating city traffic. It is then no surprise to see that many two-wheeler owners despite possessing a car prefer to take their two-wheelers for travelling within the city. That said, even with the use of two-wheelers, the traffic situation is so bad in certain metros, especially the likes of Mumbai and New Delhi, that many of us tend to break traffic rules unknowingly or out of sheer frustration. Whatever the reason for
violation of traffic rules, be it breaking a red traffic light or not wearing the helmet, translates to you paying a fine.
In the unfortunate event that you violate a traffic rule and are caught by the traffic official, you are required to pay the concerned fine according to the nature of the offense. In addition to the guilt, there is another problem that you may face these days. That problem is not having the required amount of cash to pay the fine. This has been a common affair since the demonetization drive. In this scenario, your driving license is confiscated and you have to wait for a long time to get it back. But those days are now behind us. That is because now you can pay your fine using a debit or credit card. Yes, that is right.
Currently, the traffic violation fines are collected by the traffic police and are sent to headquarters which is then forwarded to the government’s treasury. This is a very long and cumbersome process indeed. With a swipe of a credit or a debit card, it will be replaced with something that is more convenient as well as efficient. With the honorable Prime Minister’s dream of a digital India, this is a welcome move. Technology and digital advancements are being implemented today in all walks of life. There is no reason why it should not be implemented in this domain. This move will help automate a lot of processes reducing paperwork which in turn will contribute to the conservation of environment. Also, there will be a database that will be available to the traffic authorities which will be helpful to them.
With the data collected, the officials can easily track the history of repeat offenders and impose a heavier fine or if needed, suspend the driving license of the offender in question. Having such stringent system in place will go a long way in making our roads safer and impose self-discipline among the motorists. Also, having such computerized data will help to validate documents such as driving license and
vehicle insurance. Such move is sure to curb the menace of forging such documents and enforce better security.
In addition to the above benefits of plastic money, other side advantage you get is of electronic or e-challans. Since the database has contact details, the e-challan can be directly sent to the concerned via an SMS or an email. Again, this will reduce the use of paper required for manual, hand-written challans which in turn will promote transparency and overall safety.
