Patna: Bihar’s Transport Department is preparing to roll out a mobile application that will allow vehicle owners to report and resolve wrongful traffic challans without visiting government offices. The initiative comes after repeated complaints that fines were being issued to vehicles that were either not on the road or registered in distant cities.
Transport Commissioner Ashutosh Dwivedi has instructed the National Informatics Centre to design the platform, which will enable motorists to file instant complaints by uploading details directly on the app. Officials say the system is intended to provide quick redressal and prevent harassment of vehicle owners.
The decision follows pressure from the Bihar Motor Transport Federation, which had threatened to block roads from July 25 in protest at the frequent issuance of incorrect fines. Federation representatives had earlier met senior police and transport officials, flagging challenges such as delayed permit renewals, arbitrary penalties and misuse of vehicle registration numbers.
Currently, traffic and transport authorities in the state are issuing more than 200 challans daily against bikes and over 50 against other vehicles, collecting an estimated Rs 10 lakh in fines each day. Alongside penalties for traffic violations, additional revenue is being raised from overloading, no-parking and permit-related offences.
Cases of wrongful fines have grown common. In one instance, a doctor in Muzaffarpur received a challan for red-light violation in Patna despite never travelling there, while another motorist in Aghoria Bazaar was fined for triple riding in Motihari although he had not visited the city for six months. Both alleged misuse of their vehicle numbers.
