Hyderabad: Now traffic challan message on WhatsApp

Hyderabad: Jumped the traffic signal and didn’t even notice? Don’t worry. Check your WhatsApp.

The Hyderabad Traffic Police are going the WhatsApp way now to send messages informing motorists about the traffic rules they broke while driving and on the penalties imposed.

The HTP started the new initiative recently taking into account the widespread use of WhatsApp for messaging by the public. The Traffic Police have so far been sending these messages as an SMS to the mobile phone of the vehicle owner. Now, since the data of the phone numbers and residential address is available with the police after getting those from the Transport Department, the decision is to utilise the popularity of WhatsApp as well.

“Vehicle owners furnish residential address details and phone number while registering vehicles. Since we now have access to more details, we will forward the challan message to WhatsApp as well,” a senior Traffic Police official said.

As a practice, the Traffic Police send all postal challans and messages from its control room. A team of policemen at the e-challan section of the Hyderabad Traffic Police update the traffic penalties on the traffic police e-challan portal against each vehicle’s registration number. It is followed by sending a message to the mobile phone of the vehicle owner first, and later a postal challan as well.

Now, WhatsApp has been added to the list, asking the violator to pay the challan either online or at Meeseva at the traffic compounding booth.

“Also, we are planning to inform through email, but there are some constraints because all vehicle owners don’t have email accounts,” he added.

In case the vehicle owner is selling the vehicle, it has to be made sure that the buyer gets it transferred on their name.

Meanwhile, the Traffic police are regularly organizing special drives to collect pending challans from motorists. A discount offer was launched in March, with similar initiatives to follow.