Thiruvananthapuram: The AI cameras installed by the Motor Vehicle Department and KELTRON to check traffic violations and to penalise the offenders will start full-fledged operations from midnight. The procedure to impose and levy the fine on finding traffic offences would also begin from Monday, June 5 onwards.
The tuning of the cameras has been almost completed across the State.
The authorities had earlier decided to postpone the imposition of fines on offenders as part of spreading awareness on the Safe Kerala Project, the initiative to enforce road traffic discipline.
The fine would be collected through the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) application of the Central Road Transport Ministry. This would be later handed over to the States.
No exemption for motorcyclists with kids, says union minister
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari declared that no exemption will be given to two-wheeler riders with children. Earlier, the state government stated that people who are travelling with children below 12 years on two-wheelers will be exempted from the charges. But the union minister declared that allowing exemption is illegal.
Exempted categories
Vehicles including VIP vehicles and ambulances would be exempted from the charges after checking.
KELTRON has already engaged as many as 110 staff across the district-level control rooms. Thirty-six more personnel are to be appointed in the next two days.
No e-challan for most vehicle owners
Meanwhile, more than 70 lakh vehicle owners of about one-and-a-half crore vehicles registered in the State would not receive the e-challan of the violations as an SMS. As the mobile number and email id details of those vehicle owners have not been added to the Motor Vehicle Department’s portal yet, the e-challan cannot be sent as an SMS to them. The Central Road Transport Ministry has entered the details of the vehicle owners registered after 2019. Kerala had started the works for the same in 2017 itself.
The details of the owners of vehicles registered from 2017 and the vehicles registered before 2017 and had approached the MVD for various needs thereafter are with the MVD. However, there are as many as 70 lakh vehicle owners, who come under neither of these categories.
They can be informed about the road rule violation and the given direction to pay the fine only through the challan notice sent by post. Those who get the SMS would also receive the challan by post.
The procedure
The violators would not get an SMS immediately upon finding a traffic violation. This would take seven to 13 days. In the first stage, the operator in the control room confirms if it is a violation by assessing the AI camera image/visual. This would be sent to the central server at Thiruvananthapuram. The Traffic official will approve the same after which the challan would be sent to the vehicle owner by SMS and by post.
An appeal can be filed within 14 days after receiving the challan with the respective Enforcement wing of the Regional Transport Office of the jurisdiction where the violation was found. Those who go for appeal need to pay fine only after this step.
