One of the many effects of demonetisation has been the sharp decrease in the number of challans issued to traffic violators. The police have stopped accepting 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, and in many cases, when violators do not have low-denomination notes for cash challans, they are being sent on their way.
Saheb Ali, a commuter whom the police caught driving on the wrong side of the road, told City Spidey that the police first inquired if he had notes of smaller denomination. When he said he wasn't carrying any, he was let off without issuing a challan.
According to Noida Police, they have issued more than 9,000 challans to offenders in November till now, which is far less than the 44,000 challans issued in the same month in 2015.
When City Spidey spoke to Prabal Pratap Singh, Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Noida, he said, "We are issuing court challans rather than accepting old 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. So far we have collected Rs 12.56 lakh by issuing challans in November."
He added that November was being pegged as Traffic Month, in which commuters would be sensitised to traffic rules.
