Patna: The state govt has made it mandatory for all vehicle owners in Bihar to update their cellphone number and address in the database of their vehicles within the next three months. Failure to do so will deny the vehicle owners the right to renew pollution certificate, registration certificate (RC) and driving licence (DL) of their vehicles, said additional director general of police (traffic), Sudhanshu Kumar, at a press conference in Patna on Tuesday. The ADG said the e-challan system approved by the Centre has also been implemented in Bihar. “The standard operating procedure (SOP) has been prepared for this. The campaign of updating the database will be run for everyone once a year, keeping in view the possibility of frequent changes of cellphone number and address,” he said. It will be mandatory to pay the issued e-challan within 90 days. “If this is not done, the competent officer will electronically suspend the DL and RC after sending an alert notice to the vehicle owner 15 days in advance, he said. The ADG said the challan has to be settled within the stipulated period.He, however, clarified that only challans with stamping of time, place and date will be valid. “Challans made by taking photos from cellphones can be challenged before the competent officer,” he said. “Challans will also be issued from body-worn cameras soon,” he said. Under the SOP, a dashboard will be created at the state and district level to monitor the e-challan. “If one is dissatisfied with the e-challan, the vehicle owner will be able to challenge it before the designated grievance redressal authority within 30 days. In the event of retaining the notice or reducing the challan amount, it will be mandatory to pay within 15 days,” he said and added that the vehicle owners will be informed about e-challan through SMS, WhatsApp and e-mail within three days and physically within 15 days.
