State collected Rs. 660 crore traffic penalties between 2019 and 2021: Home Minister

Mysore/Mysuru: The City Police stands second in the State when it comes to traffic fine collection as between 2019 and 2021 — traffic offenders (violation of Motor Vehicle Act) have coughed up Rs. 23.6 crore.

Bengaluru City stands in the first place with a collection of Rs. 329 crore during the same period. Mysuru is closely followed by Hubballi-Dharwad where Rs. 18.9 crore was collected.

This is as per the data provided to the Karnataka Legislative Council by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra to the question raised by Mandya MLC Dinesh Gooligowda on Thursday. Statewide, the Government has collected a whopping Rs. 660 crore as traffic fines in three years.

However, according to the data provided by the Home Minister, of the Rs. 660 crore, Rs. 67.65 crore has been released in three years for various traffic and safety improvement projects in State. Of Rs. 67.65 crore, only about Rs. 47.09 crore has been spent by the local administrations.

A part of the amount was utilised for maintenance of signal lights, CCTV cameras, patrolling vehicles, interceptor vehicles and digital assistant device for Traffic Cops. The funds were also used for awareness campaigns and setting up of automatic number plate recognition with an intelligent recognition system on high-density corridors.

The data revealed that the highest traffic fine of Rs. 265.52 cr. was collected in 2021, followed by Rs. 208.47 cr. in 2020 and Rs. 186.97 cr. in 2019. Despite months of lockdown, 2020 yielded Rs. 265.52 cr.