Mama, Mamool & Blackberry
In a first of its kind move in India, the Kerala government is handing over Blackberry phones to traffic police so that offenders can be booked on the spot and RTO records can also be retrieved instantly.
Traffic offenders here have to be doubly careful from now as the city traffic police, perhaps for the first time in the country, are armed with Blackberry mobiles, especially designed to track down vehicle details from Regional Transport Office database in a jiffy.Under the pilot project launched by Kerala Government, complete information about the vehicle and its owner could be instantly accessed by policemen using Blackberry mobile phones, which hitherto remained a proud possession of the elite class, especially top company executives. (Link)
I'm not sure whether the cops would welcome such a high-tech move. The traffic police team needs to be trained in using the Blackberry so that they can make full use of it. Otherwise, there is a risk that the handheld device might become a show-off object. The traffic police normally uses the threat of booking an offence to extract 'mamool' from the public. Will the Blackberry result in lesser bribes and increased productivity? Time only can tell.
Labels: News and Views
posted by Kaps at
3:14 PM
4 Comments:
I think Police in Bangalore have been using handhelds (not sure if it's a Blackberry) since mid-2008, I think.
It looks quite funny though, because the cops are clearly out of their depth with them.
By
Mr. D, at 5:54 PM
Must be good fun to see cops fumbling around the blackberry.
If anything, I think it will only increase the rapidity of maamool since they'd threaten you of immediate booking!
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 PM
Bangalore cops have been using blackberrys now for sometime. They also carry around small printers and the fine receipt is given out immediately. And unlike what people here are communicating with cynicism, they are trained well enough to operate it very efficiently.( I am a regular BB user and think can identify one who is comfortable with it). The system also keeps track of offenses and I believe hikes fines for repeat offense. I think this is the right way to go. and yeah, since the introduction of the handheld, the fine collection in Bangalore has increased.
By
Deepak, at 8:02 PM
Definitely not the first in India. I have been blown away by the technology usage in Bangalore by the government in general.My insurance or pollution certificate had expired and I was caught by the airport police a couple of years back. They keyed in my details on a small handheld and using a very small printers issued a receipt for the fine on the spot. Idhellam they did long back. Even on buses in Tamil Nadu, only in the last few years have they introduced mini-printers that the conductor uses. KSRTC buses have had these for a very long time
By
Anonymous, at 10:53 AM
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