New Delhi: In the last one year, the Delhi government has issued 14.82 lakh challans amounting to over Rs 154 crore for various Covid violations in the city but managed to collect only Rs 16.79 crore from the fine, according to official data.
The maximum number of fines was imposed for not wearing masks in public places. As many as 13.81 lakh challans for violating the mask mandate (93.31 per cent of the total) were issued by the district authorities between April 17, 2021, and April 6, 2022. Shahdara district recorded the highest number of such offences at 1,85,354, followed by the east district at 1,84,618 and the north district at 1,78,563 offences.
The least number of such offenders were in the Central district where 80,496 challans were issued for not wearing masks.
In New Delhi, 90,293 challans and in the south district 91,572 challans were issued, the data showed.
The total fine imposed for various COVID-19 violations between April 17, 2021, and April 6, 2022, was Rs 154.75 crore. However, the amount collected was only Rs 16.79 crore.
Explaining the reason for the disparity between the fine imposed and collected, a senior official from the south district administration said many people generally do not pay fines on the spot because of insufficient money in their pocket.
"Till last month, one had to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 for not wearing masks. It was a big amount. Many times violators did not have a sufficient amount to pay the fine. So in that case, we used to issue challan orders and send them to the violator's residence or email them.
The official said as the fine for not wearing masks has now been lifted, district authorities will start working on clearing pendency and reassessing cases who have not paid the fine.
"We will take necessary actions against those who have not paid the due fines," the official said.
Figures provided by the revenue department show that 37,809 FIRs were registered for Covid violations, with the New Delhi district issuing 37,803 challans, contributing the major chunk.
Although five FIRs were registered in the south district and one in the southwest district, no FIR was registered in the remaining eight districts. Only three people were arrested for violating Covid protocols.
A total of 70,932 violations were recorded for not following social distancing guidelines, with the maximum being recorded in the north district (27,823), followed by the west (14,328) and northeast (14,310) districts respectively.
The northwest district recorded zero such violations while only three cases of people not adhering to COVID-19 protocols came to light in the south district.
New Delhi had 403 such violations, South West 117 and Shahdara 148. Central Delhi recorded 752 such instances.
The northeast district saw the maximum number of large gatherings and congregations being held in violation of coronavirus protocols at 530, followed by the southwest district (85).
West district saw eight such instances while three such instances were reported from the southeast district, according to data.
There were no large congregations or gatherings held in the remaining seven districts, including New Delhi which houses Jantar Mantar.