Bhubaneswar, Nov. 22: The demonetisation drive has its perks too, especially for youngsters who love zipping through the roads without wearing helmets.

The scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has forced police to slow down its drive against traffic violations for the time being. This has come as a boon for youngsters, who tend to flout traffic norms with impunity.

The sight of youngsters driving without helmets and talking over their cell phones while driving has become common in the city after November 8, when high value currency notes became illegal tender. The maximum penalty for traffic violations is Rs 500.

The traffic wing of police, which had achieved major success in collection of penalties in October, is now finding it difficult to penalise violators after the demonetisation announcement. On October 22, the traffic wing had penalised as many as 856 violators, which was an all-time record on a single day. The violations included not using helmets and seat belts, jumping signals and rash driving.

Police officials admitted to taking a lenient view of violations at the moment because of the scarcity of lower denomination notes.

"Violators plead for non-collection of fines as they are finding it hard to get new currency notes. We are also letting them go on humanitarian grounds," said a police official. The minimum penalty for traffic violation is Rs 100, which can go up to Rs 500.

Official statistics said the police penalised only 171 violators on November 9, the day after demonetisation came into effect. The number of traffic violators was 301 on November 8.

"At a time when thousands of city residents are queuing up at banks to exchange old currency notes, the police should not be harsh by collecting fines for traffic violations," said another police official working with the traffic wing.

However, the cops' lenient approach has led to rampant traffic violations, especially by youngsters in the city. Many college-going students are not wearing helmets, while a number of youths can be spotted using their cell phones while driving.

"Most of us don't have enough money to meet our daily needs. So, we are least concerned now about paying penalty for traffic violation," said Ritesh Das, a college student.

The cops, on the other hand, claimed that traffic rule enforcement had become normal from this week.

"We penalised 397 violators on Sunday in Bhubaneswar and those, who think they will get away without penalty during this period, will be sent notices at their addresses to pay the fine," said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Jatindra Kumar Panda.