Challenging Wrong Challans
The traffic rule violation ticket claimed the offence took place at the APC Roy Road-Shibdas Bhaduri Street crossing at 5.50 am on Oct 19. In some cases, he said, the vehicle’s ownership details were not updated and so, challan messages were sent to old owners though the vehicle might have been sold off to someone else. Lalbazar had earlier launched an investigation after bus and minibus owners complained that some sergeants issued fines of small amounts without entering the payments in the official system.
Kolkata Police asked him to send them his complaint by email and senior Lalbazar officers said they would investigate whether the message was real or caused by human error. An office said many such cases turned out to be fake SMS messages that looked like official e-challans. Police said they now handled such complaints more carefully.
In his post on X, while the man asked Kolkata Police to correct the mistake, he also pointed out that the payment website was not opening. Police are also worried about duplicate or fake registration numbers. They may take up the matter with RTOs. A team, led by a DCP, currently reviews complaints, and in some genuine cases, cancels fines. Police are also using social media to respond faster to aggrieved motorists.