Coimbatore
According to sources, M Selvakumar (34) from NRK Puram in Tirupur North was shocked to receive a text message from the police on his mobile number informing him of a penalty for helmetless driving. He received the message around 1.30 pm on Monday. He had just then returned to Tirupur from Pollachi by car, driving through the Dharapuram Road. Confused over the message, Selvakumar clicked the online link in it and found the details of the vehicle number of his car, name and address in the e-challan.
However, the challan stated a penalty of Rs 100 charged for driving a two-wheeler without helmet. Selvakumar has sought a clarification regarding the issue by sending a registered post to Tirupur RTO office (North).
When queried, a senior police official said that automatic number plate recognition cameras can read the number plates of vehicles. “However, those type of cameras are not installed in Tirupur district. Hence, only the police collect spot fines from violators during vehicle checks. If not spot fines, challans will be issued, which have to then be paid in banks, and a text message will be received by the violator for the same,” the official said. An inquiry would he held as to how such a text message was sent erroneously to the car driver, the official added.
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