A contract vehicle of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) was charged a fine of ₹25,000 by the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) recently. The fine was slapped on charges of driving the vehicle without valid insurance, a fitness certificate, and carrying a projected load (a pole) beyond the length of the vehicle. The challan was issued by the MVD along with an image taken by the newly installed artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) traffic surveillance system.
KSEB sources said slapping fines on KSEB vehicles for projected load cannot be agreed upon as it would cause greater difficulty for its logistics during emergency times.
“In the case of projected load, the KSEB can appeal before the Regional Transport Office (RTO), which can be exempted under the purview of emergency services, while driving vehicles without valid insurance and fitness certificate is a punishable offence,” said MVD sources.