E-challans worth Rs 470 crore issued for violations on Mumbai-Pune Expressway in one year

The Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has generated 27.76 lakh e-challans worth Rs 470 crore for traffic violations since e-surveillance was put in place in July last year, with abysmal recovery of just Rs 51 crore in fines. According to data shared by the transport department, cars accounted for the lion's share of speed limit violations on the 95-km expressway, with more than 17.20 lakh e-challans. Heavy goods carriers were a distant second with 3.27 lakh e-challans, followed by heavy passenger vehicles, such as buses, at 2.48 lakh, taxis faced 2 lakh challans, and 1.2 lakh light goods carriers were booked during the period. Medium goods vehicles received 85,468 e-challans, articulated heavy goods vehicles 30,450, and medium passenger buses 14,764 e-challans, the data stated. A senior official of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department (MMVD) told PTI that their department has issued 27.76 lakh e-challans inviting fines to the tune of Rs 470 crore from July 19, 2024, to July 17 this year. He pointed out that 3 lakh e-challans worth Rs 51.32 crore have been recovered till July 17, without elaborating further. As per an RTI reply to transporter KV Shetty, the department has paid the ITMS operator Rs 57.94 crore for the 8.84 lakh e-challans issued between July 19 and December 31 last year.

Documents show that the operator, Proctech Solutions ITMS LLP, gets Rs 654.90, comprising its share of Rs 555 and 18 per cent GST, for every e-challan issued. The ITMS, which uses high-resolution cameras and AI-based detection tools, was implemented to improve compliance and reduce accidents on the busy Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has installed 40 gantries and hundreds of CCTV cameras as part of ITMS, which also includes speed detection cameras, ANPR, weigh-in-motion sensors, AVCC, weather sensors, a dynamic messaging system, a command and control centre (CCC), and supporting infrastructure at multiple locations across the expressway. The state transport department has given Rs 45 crore viability gap funding from the Road Safety Fund for the project, costing more than Rs 100 crore.

As per the mechanism, a traffic violation report is generated through the ITMS system and verified at the Command Control Centre (CCC) by the operator's staff, and challans have to be approved by RTO officials. While there is a provision to issue e-challans for 17 traffic violations, the ones handed down so far pertain to speeding, driving without a seatbelt, lane cutting, entering from the wrong side and using mobile phones while driving, officials said. Sources said that a large number of e-challans for overspeeding were issued in the Khandala ghat section of the expressway. Hence, the transporters are demanding an increase in the speed limit in the ghat section. The 10-km ghat section has a speed limit of 60 kmph for cars and 40 kmph for heavy vehicles. On other stretches of the expressway, the speed limit is 100 kmph for smaller vehicles and 80 kmph for heavy vehicles. Transporters claim the current limit on the ghat section, located between Lonavala in Pune district and Khalapur in Raigad district, results in frequent e-challans, as it is challenging for heavy vehicles to move slowly on a sharp downward incline, and slows down traffic and causes accidents. Deliberations were underway to raise the speed limit for heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses from the current 40 kmph to 45-50 kmph on the downward incline of the Pune-Mumbai arm of the Khandala Ghat. Transport operators are unhappy at the flood of e-challans and urged authorities to take note of the resentment in the vital sector. Last month, transporters went on strike against the rampant e-challans issued to heavy vehicles, but called it off after the state government set up a panel.