Despite consistent efforts by the Pune Traffic Police to curb violations, Punekars continue to flout the rules nonchalantly, and what's even more disturbing is their refusal to pay the fines imposed on them.
According to the data accessed by The Free Press Journal, the Pune Traffic Police is yet to recover a staggering ₹104 crore from violators over the last two years.
In 2023, there were 5.21 lakh cases of unpaid fines amounting to ₹44 crore, while in 2024, the number rose to 6.12 lakh cases, with fines totalling ₹59 crore.
This refusal to pay fines isn't a new phenomenon. According to the data, there were 3.10 lakh cases of unpaid fines in 2017, 4.93 lakh in 2018, 11 lakh in 2019, 10 lakh in 2020, 17 lakh in 2021 and 11 lakh in 2022.
After the violator does not pay the fine, the cases are sent to the court. According to the data, 3652 cases were sent to court in 2017, 8334 in 2018, 41,154 in 2019, 29,142 in 2020, 51,034 in 2021, 33,444 in 2022, 32,806 in 2023 and 41,986 in 2024. This indicates that a huge chunk of offenders put pressure on an already burdened judicial system.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Sunil Gavli, Police Inspector (Traffic, Yerawada) said, "We have been urging citizens to clear their dues, but many motorists continue to flout rules with impunity. Most of these violators are booked in drunk driving cases."
