A copy of the traffic violation ticket (challan) delivered to a citizen’s house through the Traffic Violation Evidence System. PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The automated, faceless e-challan system recently introduced by the traffic police has triggered confusion after a technical mix-up sent a traffic violation notice to an unexpected recipient — a hotel in Karachi- for an offence committed by a vehicle registered in Quetta.
According to officials, the system wrongly issued an e-challan meant for a Quetta-registered vehicle to the hotel’s address. The hotel management was taken aback upon receiving the notice, only to discover that the number plate on the vehicle matched that of their own car – a vehicle stolen nearly three decades ago.
The hotel’s vehicle, bearing registration number AAR-540, had been stolen from the parking lot of Fayyaz Centre in May 1997, with an FIR lodged at the Saddar police station on May 22, 1997.
The challan, however, was actually issued to a vehicle owned by Rehmatullah, a resident of Rehmat Colony, Quetta, after traffic personnel at the Hub Toll Plaza flagged the driver on October 27 for not wearing a seatbelt.
Upon receiving the unexpected notice, the hotel contacted the Traffic Police Facilitation Centre and informed officials about their decades-old theft case. After verification, the traffic police cancelled the challan.
A spokesperson for Karachi Traffic Police clarified that misleading reports on social media had suggested the police had recently challaned a stolen vehicle. “In reality, the challan was from an early testing phase of the system, when full integration with AVLC’s crime database was still underway,” the spokesperson said.
