Last year, around 4 million traffic offenders escaped fines despite being caught by AI cameras. Even a year after the cameras were installed, the dispute between the traffic authority and Keltron has still not been resolved.
As a result, the Kerala PSU failed to issue fines to 40 lakh out of the 64 lakh violators caught on camera, resulting in a revenue loss of around Rs 200 crore to the government.
The government initially touted these cameras, which cost Rs 230 crore to install, as a crucial step to curb traffic violations. Keltron, which is responsible for managing the camera control room and issuing penalty notices, was directed to issue 25 lakh penalty notices per year. After reaching this limit, it stopped. This is because the agreement between the Motor Vehicles Department and Keltron regarding the operation of AI cameras is still pending. Ministers had promised to fix the issue a year ago.
Antony Raju was the Transport Minister when the cameras were installed. Today, the ministry is under KB Ganesh Kumar and since he took over, interest in the AI camera project seems to have waned.
