In a bid to reduce the harassment faced by traffic rule violators, the city police are introducing a single-window system at 11 traffic guard offices across the city from April.

The offices will be computerised and linked with the police headquarters and, so, offenders need not visit Lalbazar to collect a no-objection certificate to get back the papers seized by the traffic sergeant.

Under the present system, an offender has to get the certificate from the traffic department at Lalbazar after depositing the fine at a designated bank.

The no objection certificate is issued after verifying if there are any pending cases against the vehicle. The offender then has to produce the certificate at the traffic guard office concerned and retrieve his documents.

Banibrata Basu, joint commissioner, traffic department, agreed that the present system was very time-consuming. “We want to introduce a hassle-free and faster procedure,” he added.

The traffic guard offices are being equipped with computers to help the officers check if a vehicle has a case pending against it, without contacting the Lalbazar headquarters.

According to senior officials at Lalbazar, requests have come from several quarters to introduce spot fines for those flouting traffic norms. “But it was not possible. A sergeant can slap a fine on an offender, but according to rules, only an OC can collect the monetary fine. And it is not possible for us to deploy OCs on the streets to collect spot fines from offending vehicles,” Basu explained.

“Depositing fines at banks is also a time-consuming affair. We are planning to collect the fines at the traffic guard offices. The matter is being discussed and we hope to introduce the system by the year-end,” he added.

An officer, on behalf of the officer-in-charge (OC), will collect the fines.

“Under the new system, people will be able to pay the fines and collect their documents from the traffic guard office, instead of shuttling from the bank to Lalbazar and the guard office.”

Resignation in court

Gitanath Ganguly, the Calcutta High Court-appointed special officer monitoring sound pollution norms, stepped down from his post on Friday.

The resignation follows an allegation brought against him a fortnight ago by fellow advocate and Trinamul Congress MLA Arunabha Ghosh, at a public interest litigation hearing, that Ganguly’s car had a plate reading ‘High court-appointed Special Officer’. Unaware of the 1998 directive of a division bench appointing Ganguly to the post, Chief Justice A.K. Mathur directed that the plate be removed. On hearing the court’s reaction, Ganguly decided to step down. His resignation was accepted on Friday.