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

Cab drivers have alleged that the traffic police are making them suffer financially by impounding their licences over pending echallans Their permits will be returned only after their employers pay the fines they claimed The traffic department however has put the onus on driversOfficials 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 lsquokharchirsquo bribe to ldquosettle the matterrdquoldquoWe 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 misbehaverdquo the driver saidTraffic police officers monitor vehicles on JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road on April 6 Representation PicShadab KhanA 34yearold tempo driver alleged that he ended up paying Rs 3000 to get his suspended licence back ldquoOn June 4 I was in Jogeshwari and took a turn but the cop didnrsquot even attempt to stop me and straightaway slapped a fine I paid Rs 1000 to the officers but they took my licence I rushed to the Vakola traffic police station where I paid another Rs 1000 But my licence had already been sent to the RTO where I had to pay R1000 again to get it backrdquo he saidA 37yearold driver said that once his boss had to come to Bandra to rescue him from the cops ldquoAn 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 finesrdquo he said Rubbishing all these claims an officer stationed at Nagpada traffic police station said ldquoWe impound the licence only when the driver is a repeat offender If he breaks the law he will be punished as per its provisionsrdquoAn officer stationed at Bhoiwada traffic police station explained why licences are impounded and not the vehicle ldquoWhen 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 difficultrdquoA traffic constable said ldquoIf 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 havenrsquot paid fines for 45 yearsrdquoAnother officer said ldquoUnder Section 206 of the Motor Vehicle Act cops have the right to impound the licence of the vehicle driver if he doesnrsquot have the vehiclersquos documentsrdquo Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic Pravin Padwal told midday ldquoI advise all drivers to check whether the car they drive has any previous challans This will prevent a lot of problemsrdquoUber said that it provides assistance to its drivers ldquoWe 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 immediatelyrdquo Uberrsquos spokesperson said in a statementArif Khan a 30yearold tempo driver alleged ldquoHawaldars 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 R1500 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 didnrsquot let my licence reach the RTOrdquoMohanlal Chechi 42 a trucker said ldquoSome 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 9500 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 processedrdquoGurjit Singh a 32yearold tempo driver differed from his peers ldquoCops 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 itrsquos not our fault the police issue challans for the car and do not seize our licencerdquo he saidJune 4Day mini truck driver was fined