Poor response to police site providing Road Traffic Accident data

To make this new facility work, traffic police have been ordered to upload all the supporting documents such as FIR, wound certificate, post-mortem report in case of fatality among others along with the charge-sheet of each case on the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS).

The victims can access these documents on http://eservices.tnpolice.gov.in by entering the phone number given in the FIR, by paying Rs 10. However, even after a week not many people have availed of this service, according to top officials. And steps are under way to make this facility available at e-seva centres.

A traffic inspector on condition of anonymity said that the facility will help break the policeman-lawyer cartel in RTA cases and prevent them from eating into the compensation meant for victims or their kin. “There were days when people had to visit the police station to get death certificate. Now it’s all available online and this new initiative is a significant one. It will bring more transparency to the process,” he said.

Explaining the system, Shankar, an advocate, said, “Each traffic police station will have a group of advocates to take up accident cases. In many cases, advocates will work hand-in-glove with the police keeping the victims in dark. The victims will only get a part of the compensation meant for them. The option to download the RTA documents online is a great initiative as far as it is implemented effectively,” he said.

Seema Aggarwal, ADGP, one of the key officials behind the initiative, said that with the new facility, victims can choose the advocate of their choice or approach free legal aid cell with the documents. “It is a one-of-a-kind initiative with which victims can access the necessary files online to claim insurance. Steps will be taken to popularise it,” the police official said.

LDR complaints flood online

Within a week after Tamil Nadu police launched an online facility to register complaints regarding loss of documents, the website has been flooded with 1,039 complaints regarding the loss of driving licences.

In total, 1,136 complaints have been received, in which the second maximum complaints were for Vehicle Registration Certificate (RC book) - 39. While 24 people have registered complaints of loss of passport, 22 people have filed complaints about loss of school and college certificates. Twelve identity card losses were also reported.

Launched on September 1, the online facility - ttp://eservices.tnpolice.gov.in - makes it simpler to file complaints about loss of documents and to receive a report on the loss, which would have been otherwise difficult as the complainants should visit the police station multiple times for the same purpose.