Ranchi traffic police is set to switch over to an e-challan system to penalise violators.

Forty cops and officials of the district traffic police were imparted training by experts at the state police headquarters in Dhurwa for three hours on Monday.

The project, first of its kind in Jharkhand, was conceived by the then Ranchi traffic SP Manoj Ratan Chothe in January last year.

The system was rolled out on a pilot basis at four roundabouts in the capital city - Rajendra Chowk, Birsa Chowk, Radium Chowk and Argora Chowk - but was withdrawn in the absence of proper infrastructure.

Under the new system, traffic cops, equipped with smartphones with internet facility and bluetooth printers, will issue on-the-spot receipts after collecting fines.

The Android devices will be integrated with a networking system to store the database of violators and connected to the central sever of Jharkhand police. Once anyone is caught flouting rules, the traffic personnel will have to key in the registration number of the vehicle to access details about the vehicle and its owner.

In the earlier system, there was no way to ascertain whether a particular vehicle and licence holder was a first-time violator or a repeat offender. Therefore, each case had to be treated as a first-time offence.

"We have procured 40 smartphones and have made improvements to the existing software and database. Now with the click of a mouse, we can know whether a vehicle or a person was fined earlier or not," traffic DSP Dilip Xalxo said.

"Under the provisions of Motor Vehicles Act, the penalty amount is more for repeat offenders. In some cases, even the licence is suspended or revoked. E-challan will definitely act as a deterrent," he added

If a violator manages to escape, the cops will track down his mobile with the help of his registration number and an SMS will be sent to the person.

Last month, traffic police had collected Rs 33 lakh as penalty across the district.

Successful implementation of the system will help police monitor the collection of fines from the 40 traffic posts in the capital city on a real-time basis.