Citizens forced to visit Police Stations to pay fine

Mysuru: The Karnataka State Police‘s traffic fine payment website (https://payfine.mchallan.com:7271) has become non-functional, compelling violators to visit Police Stations to clear their penalties.

This technical snag comes at a time when traffic penalty collections are already low across the State. In Mysuru city alone, as of December 2024, pending fines amount to a staggering Rs. 240 crore.

Previously, the website allowed violators, except those in Bengaluru, to conveniently pay fines online and check outstanding dues against their vehicles, eliminating trips to Police Stations. However, with the site now unresponsive, citizens are left with no choice but to pay fines in person.

The introduction of AI-based Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras under the Intelligent Traffic Management System had significantly streamlined the traffic penalty system by automatically generating challans for violations.

Yet, despite thousands of violations recorded daily, penalty recovery remains sluggish, resulting in significant revenue losses for the Government.

Before the website was launched, the traffic rule violators had to visit the respective Traffic Police Stations in their localities to pay the fines. The fines were paid through the KarnatakaOne or MysoreOne website as well.

Now, with a non-functional website that was only dedicated for traffic fine collection purposes, it is expected to maximise the load on Traffic Police Stations.

Ashok Kumar, a Bannimantap resident, shared his frustration: “I’ve been trying to access the website for over a week, but it doesn’t load. Today was no different.”

Anand Krishna from Saraswathipuram echoed similar woes. “I have fines on two vehicles and have tried using my laptop, phone, and even a friend’s phone, but the site remains inaccessible,” he said.

Many citizens were unaware of alternative payment methods and relied heavily on the website. H.S. Tejas, a resident of Krishnamurthypuram, remarked, “Not everyone has the time to visit a Police Station. The website was a convenient option, and its failure is a major setback.”

The Government’s inability to resolve the issue is not just affecting violators but also contributing to the mounting backlog of penalties, adding to the woes of an already strained traffic management system.

ACP clarifies

Speaking to SOM this morning, Traffic Sub-Division ACP H. Parashuramappa stated that the non-working traffic fine payment website had not come to their attention. “We will take measures to rectify the glitches on the website to enable smooth payment of penalties,” he said.