- Govt plans to expand new system to other cities with assistance of PITB
- Officials, citizens laud traffic police for introducing e-challaning system, say new system will save time, improve transparency
The test run of e-challaning system, introduced by the City Traffic Police (CTP) in collaboration with Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB) last month to mitigate malpractice, improve the efficiency and vigilance of traffic wardens and to facilitate motorists, has gone a long way in facilitating the citizens and improving the efficiency of the CTP, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to the Traffic police authorities, as many as 45 e-challaning devices had been given to the ticketing officers by the CTP and in the first month since its inception more than 10,000 motorists had been challaned using these devices.
A motorist Burhan Murtaza told Pakistan Today that citizens usually have to face inconvenience as the traffic wardens delay submitting the documents on time and they have to return from traffic offices without their documents or licences.
“But since the inception of e-ticketing system the motorist could pay the fine on spot to the official as soon as he is issued a ticket which saves their time,” he added.
Wardens have previously been penalized for misusing of fine books, for tampering with record, receiving bribe from motorists for not fining them and showing dereliction of duty.
Chief Traffic Officer Tayyab Hafeez Cheema told Pakistan Today that e-challaning enabled them to stop misuse of fine books by traffic wardens, help analyse traffic engineering, evaluate key performance indicators of wardens and track their locations on roads.
Cheema added that after receiving feedback and detecting loopholes in the test-run in a month or so, the project will be further extended with assistance from the PITB.
“The wardens make different entries like type of vehicle, the category under which he was fined and the status of motorist’s licence in the device and gives command to the printing device attached to it and the traffic violation ticket is issued at the spot,” he said while explaining the mechanism of the device.
Under this system, the CTO added, motorists had the option to pay on the spot and in case they do not afford to pay the fine on the spot then they could be issued manual fine slips as well.
“We are ensuring that the ticketing officers deposit fine tickets and amount to their respective traffic sector on the same day,” he said, adding that the e-ticketing data is automatically added to the software installed at the Central Control Room and helps in checking the performance of wardens and ensure their presence at their beats.
“The e-ticketing data helps CTP in examining different trends of multiple violations on specific roads and at different important arteries and signals of the city in order to improve road engineering and traffic management,” said Cheema, adding that e-challaning will replace the manual system once any shortcomings in the new system are addressed.
One of the traffic wardens on the condition of anonymity told Pakistan Today that the system will help a great deal to detect tampering in the fine books and will also restrict traffic wardens to their respective beats but still it would remain impossible for the authorities to stop malpractices of those wardens who give undue favours to motorists by receiving bribe and not penalizing them.
Praising the new system, Shabbir Shah, an ordinary citizen, said that it is a good system introduced by the CTP which is helping the citizens a lot as they do not have to stand in long queues to pay the fines.
“The new system is very efficient and time saving for the citizens of Lahore,” he added.
