<p> Crackdown on traffic violations and collection of spot fines came down by 50% in the last five days after the Centre demonetised the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The ban on high-value notes and shortage of Rs 100 notes have affected enforcement and collection of fines. The ban has caused inconvenience to violators traffic rules and field traffic officers (FTO) collecting the fines. The police decided to go slow on enforcement and collection of fines soon after the Central government’s decision. Hence, the collection of spot fines and registration of cases has come down by 50%,” a senior police officer told DH.<br /><br />The police anticipated the possible inconvenience in paying fines on the spot or at courts. Hence, senior officers briefed their subordinates and directed FTOs to ignore minor violations such as riding without helmets, using mobile phones while driving, wrong parking, driving without wearing seat belt, triple riding, and riding on pavements. However, there is no letup in dealing with drunk driving. <br /><br />“ We instructed the FTOs to be polite if violators express helplessness in paying the fine. Hence, there have been no altercations involving the FTOs and the violators,” the officer said.<br /><br />Another reason for the police to ignore minor violations is the fine amount fixed for various offences. The fine amount fixed for many violations is between Rs 100 and Rs 1,500. Currency notes of Rs 100 denomination are scarce, while Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have been discontinued. Unlike government hospitals and petrol bunks, the traffic police have not been exempted from receiving the demonetised notes. <br /><br />The police are generating traffic violation reports, but are not insisting on spot payment. The violators are directed to pay the fine in the court. The police have decided to be soft on violators and violations for the next two weeks as the situation is expected to stabilise by then.<br /><br />“The police haven’t compromised with road safety. We are keeping a strict vigil on violators through cameras. We will have zero tolerance, especially for drunk driving, as it endangers lives of others,” said the officer and added that the police are concentrating more on regulation of traffic than on enforcement at present.<br /><br />The traffic police remit spot fines with State Bank of Mysore (SBM) every day. The SBM officers requested the traffic police not to remit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes from November 11.<br /><br /></p>
<p> Crackdown on traffic violations and collection of spot fines came down by 50% in the last five days after the Centre demonetised the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The ban on high-value notes and shortage of Rs 100 notes have affected enforcement and collection of fines. The ban has caused inconvenience to violators traffic rules and field traffic officers (FTO) collecting the fines. The police decided to go slow on enforcement and collection of fines soon after the Central government’s decision. Hence, the collection of spot fines and registration of cases has come down by 50%,” a senior police officer told DH.<br /><br />The police anticipated the possible inconvenience in paying fines on the spot or at courts. Hence, senior officers briefed their subordinates and directed FTOs to ignore minor violations such as riding without helmets, using mobile phones while driving, wrong parking, driving without wearing seat belt, triple riding, and riding on pavements. However, there is no letup in dealing with drunk driving. <br /><br />“ We instructed the FTOs to be polite if violators express helplessness in paying the fine. Hence, there have been no altercations involving the FTOs and the violators,” the officer said.<br /><br />Another reason for the police to ignore minor violations is the fine amount fixed for various offences. The fine amount fixed for many violations is between Rs 100 and Rs 1,500. Currency notes of Rs 100 denomination are scarce, while Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have been discontinued. Unlike government hospitals and petrol bunks, the traffic police have not been exempted from receiving the demonetised notes. <br /><br />The police are generating traffic violation reports, but are not insisting on spot payment. The violators are directed to pay the fine in the court. The police have decided to be soft on violators and violations for the next two weeks as the situation is expected to stabilise by then.<br /><br />“The police haven’t compromised with road safety. We are keeping a strict vigil on violators through cameras. We will have zero tolerance, especially for drunk driving, as it endangers lives of others,” said the officer and added that the police are concentrating more on regulation of traffic than on enforcement at present.<br /><br />The traffic police remit spot fines with State Bank of Mysore (SBM) every day. The SBM officers requested the traffic police not to remit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes from November 11.<br /><br /></p>