Mumbai: Traffic cops want to hire recovery agents to collect penalties

The Mumbai traffic police want to send recovery agents to your doorstep to collect the pending amounts on echallans The department has now sought the permission of the home department which sources said is considering the proposal However Road Safety Patrol Advisory Committee members traffic cops and lawyers have warned against the misuse of the power by agents and recommend fortifying the police force insteadFor years motorists in the city have not paid their pending echallans which has now amounted to Rs 280 crore In a bid to fasttrack the recovery Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic Yashasvi Yadav has planned to hire recovery agents so that they can rigorously pursue the offenders to pay the duesYashasvi Yadav joint commissioner Mumbai traffic policeLast week I wrote to the home department requesting permission to hire recovery agents to collect the pending echallans If and when the home department gives the approval we will hire recovery agents and give them training in approaching the offenders whose fines are due Yadav told middayAlso ReadMaharashtra Crack down on irresponsible motorists says Highway PoliceProposal being consideredSources in Mantralaya have confirmed to midday that the letter is under consideration at the home departmentTraffic cops at a checkpoint at Sion File picPradeep DhivarHowever the proposal has received widespread criticism A member of the Road Safety Patrol Advisory Committee Traffic Control Branch Anandini Thakoor suggested that we take example of the past experience with the BMC The BMC had hired marshals for recovery of dues for illegal acts but it later turned out to be a waste of their treasuries as most of the agents filled their own coffers by taking money under the tableGive cops incentivesWe the citizens think that a better solution is strengthening the traffic police force by offering incentives and giving them better facilities Absorbing new recruits would also be a good solution as we always hear that they are shortstaffed said ThakoorAdvocate Sudeep Pasbola also pointed to the misuse of power by the BMC marshals Keeping in mind the highhandedness of BMC marshals and bank loan recovery agents the traffic police departments proposal wont be a welcome move There will always be crooks who will take advantage and common people will be harassed We are returning to the stage of a police state Pasbola added that we need to check how traffic police will train the agentsRestrain violatorsAnother advocate Dhruti Kapadia said recovery can be fasttracked if movement of the defaulters is restrained till they clear their outstanding echallansOn concerns of the critics Yadav said We will surely train them properly and keep a check on them to prevent them from misusing their powerMeanwhile traffic police officers said that the department is aggressively acting against the violators by conducting random checks of vehicles to find out if they have any pending echallansReminders to 10K motoristsLast year over 10000 motorists were sent text messages to clear their pending echallans but very few turned up to pay There are still a large chunk of traffic offenders who have not even checked how many echallans are pending against their vehicles and are continuing to driveride said an officerThey have also been recovering the pending dues in the ongoing Towing and Clamping operation Besides fining them for illegal parking we are also recovering the pending echallans if they have any We dont allow them to go until they clear their dues said another traffic police officerThe department is also cracking down on motorists with improper or fancy number platesThese days we are noticing that several motorists are using small font sizes in their registration number plates Neither can we read them nor the CCTV cameras can capture the number making it difficult to send them echallans said another officer So the best way to teach them a lesson is to catch the violators on the road and fine them on the spot he addedAlso ReadMumbai Cops take fivestar hotels to task over illegal parkingRs 280crTotal outstanding echallan fines owed to traffic policeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news