HD cams watching, wrong numberplate can get you an e-challan now

Bhopal: Traffic police have launched a special enforcement drive against vehicles fitted with faulty, non-standard and non-HSRP (High Security Registration Plate) number plates across the city. The campaign, which began on May 29, targets vehicles displaying registration numbers in improper formats, stylised fonts, distorted designs or other violations that make identification difficult.

Officials said violators are being issued challans both manually through POS machines and electronically with the help of the city’s Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras. The drive is being carried out at major intersections and through camera-based surveillance.

Police said that the ITMS was inaugurated on May 8, 2018, in Bhopal. There are 29 junctions in the city which are monitored by 332 high-quality cameras under the ITMS. This is for the first time that challans for wrong number plates are being issued using the ITMS cameras.

A senior traffic police officer said that between May 29 and June 9, a total of 798 challans were issued against vehicles found with faulty, non-standard or non-HSRP number plates across Bhopal as part of a special enforcement drive.

Of the total challans, 223 were generated through the city’s Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras, while 575 violators were penalised by traffic personnel using POS machines during on-ground checking.

The officer said traffic police conduct daily vehicle checking drives at 28 designated checkpoints across the city. In addition, local police stations carry out enforcement at 37 other locations within their respective jurisdictions.

Traffic police officers said a large number of vehicles in the city are still operating without mandatory HSRP plates. More than 3 lakh vehicles registered in Bhopal are still without HSRPs. Most of these vehicles were registered before 2019 when HSRP rules were not strictly enforced. In many cases, vehicle owners have altered registration numbers by using decorative fonts, unusual spacing or non-standard formats, making them difficult to read.

A senior traffic official said many vehicle owners modify their registration numbers in stylised or distorted formats, often making them difficult to read. “In several cases, the registration number is designed to resemble a name or decorative pattern rather than a standard vehicle number. Such number plates are illegal under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act,” the officer said.

Police have appealed to vehicle owners to install HSRP plates and ensure that registration numbers comply with prescribed norms to avoid penalties during the ongoing enforcement drive.

Additional DCP (Traffic) Basant Kaul said proper number plates play a crucial role in identifying vehicles involved in road accidents, crimes and traffic violations. “In case of any incident or accident, the vehicle is primarily traced through its registration number. Non-standard number plates create difficulties in identification and investigation,” Kaul said.

He said that HSRP installation is now mandatory. Traffic police are taking enforcement action against vehicle owners who have not yet installed HSRPs on their vehicles. As part of the ongoing drive, ITMS cameras are also being used to identify number plate violations and automatically generate challans against offenders.

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Between May 29 and June 9, a total of 798 challans were issued against vehicles found with faulty, non-standard or non-HSRP number plates across Bhopal.

223 were generated through the city’s Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras, while 575 violators were penalised by traffic personnel using POS machines during on-ground checking.

History of ITMS in Bhopal:

ITMS was inaugurated on May 8, 2018 in Bhopal.

There are 29 junctions in the city which are monitored by 332 high-quality cameras under the ITMS. This is for the first time that challans for wrong number plates are being issued using the ITMS cameras.

Types of violations earlier recorded by ITMS include red light violation, stop line violation, over-speeding, no helmet detection, and triple riding.

ITMS started issuing e-challan since June 13, 2018.