Road mishap documents can be accessed online

Chennai: After his two-year-old son met with a road accident last month, S Anbarasu, a resident of Padalam village in Kancheepuram district had to pay multiple visits to the local police station to get an FIR copy. It was a tough ordeal for Anbarasu, who is spending a lot of time in the hospital for the treatment of his son. A vehicle hit his son who was playing on the road, resulting in multiple fractures.

“I went to the police station for more than three times to get the FIR copy. I don’t know how many visits I have to pay to get the other certificates,” Anbarasu told DC.

Anbarasu is like any other victim who is oblivious of the online mode introduced by the State Crime Records Bureau on August 30. The online facility helps the victims to avail the road accident case documents online. A total of ten documents  can be downloaded online for a nominal fee of Rs 10 per document. The payment can be done online using net banking.

“We have made it mandatory to upload the documents online before filing the charge sheet. We are sending text messages to the complainants of the case about the status of the charge sheet,” said Additional Director General of Police Seema Agarwal who is also the Chief of the State Crime Records Bureau.

According to the statistics, around 70,000 accident cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu last year. Also, since the commencement of the online service in March (open to the insurance companies), documents of around 20,000 cases were uploaded. The service inaugurated on August 30 made the facility accessible to general public.

There are no jurisdiction bounds to the victims in getting the documents. Explaining the procedure, Seema Agarwal said, “Victims or their families can search for the documents by using the FIR number and the mobile number. It is mandatory to use the mobile number, given to the police stations to avoid confusions and to maintain privacy.”

The complainants receive the documents by email. “It is not necessary that the complainant possesses a mail address or a net banking system. It can be done through any of the accounts provided by the person. The facility will help in getting the clkaims settled fast in MCOP courts,” said officials. Victims can download the documents by clicking on www.eservices.tnpolice.gov.in