Unique Registration Transfer

Duplicate registration transfers plate problems are taking a toll on drivers in Southern New England -- literally.

“Every month, I've been receiving a bill between $200 and $300, since July,” Jon Larsson of East Greenwich said.

Larsson is one of several people who turned to the NBC 10 in frustration because someone else is racking up hundreds of dollars in out-of-state tolls, yet he’s getting stuck with the bill.

The NBC 10 I-Team learned more than 1,300 car owners in Rhode Island deal with the same problem every year, as do some in Massachusetts.

New automated toll technology using cameras that scan license plates means drivers don’t even have to slow down to rack up tolls anymore. But combining that technology with outdated license plate policies can cause headaches for drivers when the same series of letters and numbers on a license plate is issued to more than one vehicle.

Denizens of the city are not happy with Bengaluru Traffic Information System, an automated way of recognising traffic rule violations, as many have been fined for violations they hadn’t committed. In this regard, the traffic police are said to have issued an apology to one person who was wrongly implicated, but the problem persists.

Sudarshan AS, an employee of Indian Space Research Organization, said, “A friend of mine asked me to find out if he had been issued any fines by the Bengaluru traffic olice for violating traffic rules. While doing so, I got curious and decided to find out if I had any fines myself. And, to my surprise, I was fined Rs100 on June 23, 2016 for being on the phone while driving.”

Looking at the details, Sudarshan found that the fine was issued around 12:10 pm, a time when usually he is in office. He checked his office log and found out that he was nowhere near Windsor Manor, the place of the violation, on the day. He was in his office and only left the office at night. He brought it to the notice of the department 10 days ago but still is waiting for his fine to be waivered.

However, this is not the only case where a commuter has been fined arbitrarily. Vikrant, a software engineer, was stopped by traffic cops in front of Embassy Golflinks Business Park. After checking all his papers, the cop told him that there was a fine registered against his motorbike for jumping a signal near Manyata Tech Park.

“I was surprised to know this because I’ve only been in the city for three months and I have never been anywhere near Manyata Tech Park as the cops claimed. After proving my case, I was allowed to go. I am now alert against such claims made by the traffic cops.”

Even Sudarshan’s father-in-law was slapped with a fine for wrong parking but, while paying the fine, he realised that the registration number of the car and the make of the car didn’t match. The fine was slapped on a red Maruti Celerio but the car owned by Sudarshan’s father-in-law was a grey Maruti 800. He was issued an apology by the traffic cops, a copy of which is with Bangalore Mirror.