The Bengaluru traffic police have collected a whopping Rs 6 crore in fines for wrong parking from vehicle-users in the first four months of this year after revising towing charges in September 2016.

The amount collected as fine for wrong parking between January and April 2017 is double the sum aggregated for the same offence last year. In 2016, the traffic police had collected Rs 3.07 crore as fine for wrong parking.

Going by the rate of fine collection, the traffic police could earn well over Rs 18 crore as towing charges by end of this year. In short, wrong parking has become the largest revenue-generating traffic offence for police.

Kasim Raja, ACP (Planning), explained to DH the reason behind the record collection. “Earlier we had only 44 towing vehicles for as many traffic police stations in the city. These vehicles were meant mostly for two-wheelers and not for four-wheelers. But after revising the towing charges, we now have over 100 towing vehicles for 44 traffic police stations. Many of these are high-end hydraulic towing vehicles that can effortlessly tow away cars,” he said.

In 2016, the traffic police registered a total of 79,340 towing cases and collected Rs 3.07 crore in fines. But in the first four months of 2017, a staggering 81,177 cases have yielded Rs 6 core in fines, he added.

In all, police registered 37,19,640 traffic violations in the first quarter of this calendar year and collected Rs 32.88 crore in fines. In 2016, the total number of traffic violations registered was 91.80 lakh and the fine collected Rs 66.98 crore.
DH News Service

Traffic violations in 2017 (Jan-April)
Wrong parking: 8,80,456
Drunk-driving: 20,916
Jumping signal: 2,87,911
No entry violation: 1,73,279
Using mobile phone: 1,09,401
Not wearing seat belt: 1,01,357
Riding without helmet: 7,94,532
Pillion rider not wearing helmet: 6,43,702