Delhi Traffic Police Is Now Wearing Body Cameras While Issuing Fines

We Indians are infamous for flouting rules of the road, opting instead to bribe the cops when we’re caught driving without a seatbelt or running a red light. That’s probably why the government introduced the Motor Vehicles Act in July 2019, inflating the amount to be paid as a penalty for violations by at least ten times the original fine amount. To ensure that everyone follows the new rules set in motion since September 1, the Delhi traffic police force has decided that all their officers will wear body cameras while issuing challans or fines to curb any kind of corruption.

"To ensure proper actions against traffic rule violators, officers will wear body cameras. We are using as many as 626 body-worn cameras to record the violation and challans," Joint Commissioner of Police Narendra Singh Bundela told news agency ANI.

The idea is to get traffic rulebreakers on record, and it already appears to be working considering the Delhi police issued as many as 3,900 challans on Sunday itself, the very first day of stricter restrictions being imposed. "We have issued 557 challans for drunk driving, 207 for red light jumping, 195 for not wearing a seatbelt, and 336 for not wearing a helmet. As many as 42 challans have been issued for over speeding and 28 for tripling on two-wheelers," said Bundela. In fact, just yesterday, a Delhi man who was riding a motor scooter said to be worth Rs 15,000, was fined Rs 23,000 for multiple offences, including riding without a helmet and not carrying basic documents like his driver's license.

Looks like all we needed was a little help from technology to make cops as wholesome as Singham, the poster child in the fight against police corruption.

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