A man in Karnataka’s Bengaluru, riding his wife’s two-wheeler alone with a guitar strapped to his back, was reportedly issued a traffic challan after an AI-powered camera allegedly mistook the musical instrument for a pillion rider without a helmet.
Souvik Dutta shared an image on X showing him riding the two-wheeler while wearing a helmet and carrying the guitar on his back. Dutta later tagged the Bengaluru Traffic Police on X, questioning the accuracy of the A I-based traffic violation detection system and requesting that the challan be cancelled. “I was riding my wife’s two-wheeler alone with my guitar slung on my back in Bangalore. @blrcitytraffic, my wife received a traffic challan (notice no. Please revoke the challan #AISlop.
The incident reportedly took place on September 15, 2026. Following the alleged detection, his wife received a ₹ 500 traffic challan for pillion riding without helmet. In response, the Bengaluru Traffic Police asked Dutta to email [email protected] for rectification of the alleged violation or contact 080-22943381 / 080-22942883. ITEMS — Intelligent Traffic Enforcement Management System — consists of 250 global-shutter Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and 80 violation-evidence cameras, installed at 50 major traffic junctions across Bengaluru, according to Bengaluru Traffic Police website.
86202541) for ‘pillion riding without helmet’,” he wrote in a September 26 post, adding, “So much for AI-based traffic violation detection! In a reply to a comment on Sunday, Dutta updated that the challan has since been revoked.
Once confirmed, an e-challan is generated and issued to the violator through SMS, as well as in physical form through an IMV133 notice. These cameras use artificial intelligence and deep-learning technology, supported by AI-based software, to detect seven types of traffic violations like red light jumping, stop line violation, not wearing a helmet, over speeding, triple riding, usage of mobile phone and not wearing seat belt. As per the BTP website, each detected violation is then manually verified to ensure its accuracy. In this case however, the question of whether this challan was manually checked or not remains. (With inputs from PTI)
