After traffic cops,BlackBerry for RTO officials too

He said an officer would be able to verify whether a vehicle owner had paid the tax or not via the phone once the scheme was implemented. “In case of commercial vehicles,if we find that the vehicle is overloaded or that the vehicle is not fit,we can register an offence and also bring the matter to the notice of the traffic police authorities. So in all,it will bring in more discipline.”

So far,the scheme has helped in identifying the owners of nearly 320 vehicles lying abandoned at various police stations in the city. It has also proved helpful in identifying history sheeters. “With the scheme extending to the RTO,it will help us in nabbing criminals. This will increase the co-ordination of RTO officials with us,” senior traffic inspector Vijay Palsule said.  

Under the scheme,the traffic police have registered a number of cases against traffic offenders over the past three months. It comprises a central server with details of all vehicles registered in the city,which can be accessed on BlackBerry handsets given to the staff. This helps policemen in immediately identifying the name and address of the vehicle owner once the registration number of a particular vehicle is keyed in.

Both the RTO officials and traffic policemen felt the move would bring more value to the scheme.