The central government, taking into account the negligence of the citizens towards memos, is considering a new proposal to prevent road accidents and to instill awareness about traffic rules. As per this proposal, if an e-memo issued for traffic violation is not paid within three months of issuance, the driving license might be cancelled. If a driver violates traffic rules like rash driving or traffic signal violation 3 times in a financial year, their license will be suspended for at least 3 months.
Sources associated with the government claim that in many states the traffic memos are not being paid on a large scale. Due to this, the aim of preventing traffic violations and rash driving through memos is not being achieved. Hence the government is considering confiscating the license. Moreover, those who have at least 2 pending e-memos, the insurance premium on their vehicles will be increased.
The Supreme Court had recently sought a report from 23 states and 7 union territories on the status of memos issued under the Vehicles Act. The court further inquired whether the facility of installing CCTV cameras, using speed guns, and automatic number plate registration has started under this act. As the results of the report are shocking, the central government is deliberating on the proposal.
In the current calendar year, the recovery rate in the national capital Delhi is only 14 percent among the memos issued in various other states. The recovery rate in Karnataka is 21 percent. On the other hand, in Rajasthan, 76 percent of the citizens are aware of e-memo payments.
In Bihar, the memo recovery rate is 71 percent, whereas in Madhya Pradesh, it is 66 percent. A total of 5.3 crore e-memos worth Rs 4468 crore have been issued so far in Delhi, in the current calendar year. On the other hand, in Rajasthan, 87.7 lakh e-memos worth Rs 2333 crore have been issued.
On violation of traffic rules, the owner of the vehicle or the driver will receive an e-memo notice within 3 days, which must be paid within 30 days. If the payment is not made within 30 days, the memo will be presented before the court. Despite this, if the payment is not made within 90 days, an order will be issued to suspend the driving license or the registration certificate (RC) until the payment is made.