Car Owner Says Never Drove on Yamuna Expressway, Yet Receives a Challan for Speeding

After two-wheeler riders getting challans for not wearing seatbelts and four-wheeler owners getting the same for not wearing helmets, now the commuters who have not even travelled on the Yamuna Expressway are getting challans for over-speeding on the 6-lane, 165 km high-speed corridor connecting Greater Noida with Agra. According to a report, in many other instances, correct challans have been issued against commuters but with erroneous photographs, leading to confusion. The Twitter handle of Noida traffic police is flooded with such allegations. In its defence, Noida traffic police have blamed cameras installed at the Yamuna Expressway and the NIC’s public panel that issues challans to offenders.

In one such incident, an owner of a Honda Amaze has received a challan for Rs 2,000 for speeding on the Yamuna Expressway on August 28, even when he was not travelling on the Expressway that day, adding that he has the challan is his possession. A similar complaint has been made by former district president of Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Aligarh, Yatin Dixit, who alleged that while he has been issued a challan for speeding on the expressway on July 3, the photograph in challan is of a different vehicle. “It is someone else’s fault and I have been penalised. Wow, what exactness. Even the number of the vehicle is not shown in the digital challan,” wrote Yatin, tweeting to the official handles of Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Noida traffic police and UP Police.

The Noida traffic police have said that such commuters need to give a complaint to the Sector 14 A office and confirm before payment. SP (traffic) Anil Jha said they were pursuing with the NIC to ensure the issue is fixed. The report quoted KK Singh, GM (projects), Yamuna Authority, saying: “It is possible that the cameras are misreading some digits but such a complaint has come for the first time.” He, however, further assured corrective action.

The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into effect from September 1, this year. Challans are being issued and hefty fines are charged to people violating traffic rules. Several state government and people have voiced their opinion against the MV Act.