Cops, online payment portals to tie up?

Mumbai: The Mumbai traffic police is likely to tie up with more online payment portals as the recovery rate of traffic e-challans rose by five per cent a week after it joined forces with digital payment portal, MobiKwik, for portable payments. The slight increase shows that people are willing to pay e-challans but need new and improved methods and platforms for the same. Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said that the recovery rate had been low and they were trying to get more and more platforms for traffic violators to make payments.

Sources in the traffic department said that there had been a consistent dip in recovery rate of already issued e-challans, with only 9.85 lakh traffic violators paying up out of the total 28 lakh e-challans issued. However, after tying up with the private-run app, Mobikwik, there had been a slight increase of five per cent i.e. 50,000 e-challans.

Mr Kumar told The Asian Age, “The increase is a boost not only in terms of recovery but also people’s attitude towards payment of e-challans. Many a times, it so happens that since e-challans are sent on mobile phones and via speed post, violators choose to ignore them and put them on the backburner, portraying a laid-back attitude. This attitude needs to be changed.”

Mr Kumar also mentioned that if people were more inclined towards making e-challan payments via other payment portals, Mumbai traffic police would consider tying up with other online payment portals as well, keeping people’s interest in mind.

Other modes of paying e-challans include via debit/credit cards by swiping these cards on a machine, making payment at the nearest Vodafone store, making payment on the MTP app, or paying up at the nearest post office.