Mumbai: ‘Without our licences, we can’t even find jobs’

Pravin Padwal, joint CP, traffic. Pic/Aishwarya Deodhar (right) Arif Khan, driver, mini truck

Cab drivers have alleged that the traffic police are making them suffer financially by impounding their licences over pending e-challans. Their permits will be returned only after their employers pay the fines, they claimed. The traffic department, however, has put the onus on drivers.

Officials have advised drivers to check if there are pending challans against their vehicles before taking them from their owners. According to an Uber driver, the car owners do not pay the fines themselves, forcing drivers to shell out huge sums. He also claimed that cops are paid a ‘kharchi' [bribe] to "settle the matter".

"We have to be vigilant while driving. Even a tiny mistake can lead to a big fine, which we have to eventually pay. Even if we change our cars and if the previous challans are not settled, the cops confiscate our licences. They do not listen and sometimes misbehave," the driver said.

Traffic police officers monitor vehicles on Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road on April 6. Representation Pic/Shadab Khan

A 34-year-old tempo driver alleged that he ended up paying Rs 3,000 to get his suspended licence back. "On June 4, I was in Jogeshwari and took a turn, but the cop didn't even attempt to stop me and straightaway slapped a fine. I paid Rs 1,000 to the officers, but they took my licence. I rushed to the Vakola traffic police station where I paid another Rs 1,000. But my licence had already been sent to the RTO, where I had to pay R1,000 again to get it back.," he said.

A 37-year-old driver said that once, his boss had to come to Bandra to rescue him from the cops. "An officer had caught me for jumping a signal in Bandra. I requested him to let me go, but he refused. I requested him to impose the fine on the registration number, but he told me to call my boss. The latter was kind enough to rush to the spot and pay all the fines," he said. Rubbishing all these claims, an officer stationed at Nagpada traffic police station said, "We impound the licence only when the driver is a repeat offender. If he breaks the law, he will be punished as per its provisions."

An officer stationed at Bhoiwada traffic police station explained why licences are impounded and not the vehicle. "When a driver breaks the law, we either impound his vehicle or his licence. We usually opt for the latter because drivers get 15 days to collect the money for the fine. They can communicate with their bosses and settle their challans. But if we impound the vehicle, the process to get them back becomes difficult."

A traffic constable said, "If a person is caught breaking traffic rules or at a nakabandi, we check his licence and papers. If we find many fines pending on the vehicle, we seize his license because he is driving the vehicle. After the fine is paid, we return the licence. We have seen that some people haven't paid fines for 4-5 years."

Another officer said, "Under Section 206 of the Motor Vehicle Act, cops have the right to impound the licence of the vehicle driver if he doesn't have the vehicle's documents." Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pravin Padwal told mid-day, "I advise all drivers to check whether the car they drive has any previous challans. This will prevent a lot of problems."

Uber said that it provides assistance to its drivers. "We, at Uber, have created multiple touchpoints for drivers to reach us in case they face a problem. Drivers have an option of connecting to a live Uber support agent through a dedicated 24x7 safety line to share their concerns. As soon as we are made aware of a driver associated with a fleet facing a situation where their licence is impounded, we escalate the matter to the fleet partner concerned immediately," Uber's spokesperson said in a statement.

Arif Khan, a 30-year-old tempo driver, alleged, "Hawaldars always stop us for unknown reasons. Once, they stopped me and asked for money. I had no cash at the time, so they clicked a photo of my tempo and a challan of R1,500 was issued on that day. They [hawaldars] usually stop us and ask for bribes. One time, the cop stopped me in Andheri and asked for a fine as I had no cleaner. He was about to impound my licence but I settled the matter and didn't let my licence reach the RTO."

Mohanlal Chechi, 42, a trucker, said, "Some four months ago a cop stopped me near Kurla as I was trying to overtake a car. I showed him my licence. As he thought it was not valid, he told me to pay him Rs 9,500. I went to the nearby traffic police chowkie and showed them the same licence. Till today, the MTP app shows that the fine is still being processed."

Gurjit Singh, a 32-year-old tempo driver, differed from his peers. "Cops tell us to pay fines only when we have violated any law; 90 per cent of the time the owners tend to pay the fine. If it's not our fault, the police issue challans for the car and do not seize our licence," he said.

June 4
Day mini truck driver was fined