Now officers below Sub Inspector will not be able to issue challan in Bihar, strict ban on mobile photos too, action will be taken on violation of rules

The old system of traffic challan in Bihar is now going to change completely. The Traffic Division of the State Police Headquarters has issued an important official instruction to make traffic rule enforcement digital and transparent. Under this instruction, the practice of manual challan has been completely abolished.

The Additional Director General of Police (Traffic) in a letter addressed to all Senior Superintendents of Police and Superintendents of Police has clarified that a total of 1869 Hand Held Devices (HHD) have been allotted in districts across the state. Now use of these devices will be mandatory for issuing challan.

Restrictions on lower rank officers

The most important change in the new order is that police officers of rank lower than ‘Sub Inspector’ will not have the right to issue challans. Headquarters had received information that even lower ranking employees were taking action to issue challans, due to which it became necessary to bring clarity regarding jurisdiction.

The department has directed that challans should be issued only by authorized officials so that accountability can be fixed and any kind of dispute can be avoided.

Strict ban on mobile photos

The police headquarters has also curbed the practice in which policemen used to take photographs of violations with their mobile phones and later enter them in the HHD machine. Under the new rules this method has now been completely banned.

The department says that it is mandatory to have actual date, time and Lat-Long (geographical location) stamping in every challan. This facility can be ensured only through the ‘on the spot’ photo feature of the hand held device, which eliminates the scope for forgery at the technical level.

It is mandatory to keep technical features activated

According to the Headquarters, all the allotted HHD machines have the facility of Lat-Long for location tracking and taking photos on the spot. Police officers have been instructed to always keep these features active.

The objective of this system is to make the process of traffic enforcement completely evidence-based. The automatically recorded information of geographical location and time will ensure the authenticity of the challan and any kind of fraud will be curbed.

Warning of strict action on violation of rules

Additional Director General of Police (Traffic) has issued a clear warning in his letter that if any officer or employee ignores these instructions, punitive action will be taken against him as per law.

This initiative is expected to bring transparency in the state’s traffic system. This step is considered important to save common citizens from unnecessary trouble and reduce their complaints. Superintendents of Police of all the districts have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring strict compliance with these guidelines.