Delhi Police splurge Rs 15 crore to keep force's vehicles on the road

Daily Mail: New Delhi: Monday, 24 November 2014.

The Delhi Police spent about Rs 15 crore on maintenance of its nearly 3,500 vehicles in the year 2013-14. The figure may not raise eyebrows at first glance, but close scrutiny reveals that some battalions and departments have submitted maintenance bills exceeding Rs 1 crore each.

Moreover, the largely new fleet of police vehicles includes nearly 2,000 bikes.

According to the information gathered through an RTI query filed by activist Zeeshan Haider, the Delhi Police’s Third battalion spent Rs 1.93 crore on maintenance of its vehicles, including vans, bikes and cars, in 2013-14.

The Third battalion has 96 vehicles, of which 10 are not in a usable condition.

It means that the battalion spent more than Rs 2 lakh on an average annual basis. Till June 30 this year, the battalion spent Rs 36 lakh in just three months.

Similarly, Outer District police have submitted a bill of Rs 1.30 crore for the maintenance of their vehicles.

According to a senior officer, Outer District has approximately 250 vehicles, out of which around 150 are bikes.

On an average, Outer District also spent Rs 50,000 for maintenance on each vehicle.

The Central District had maintenance bills worth Rs 1.11 crore in the same period.

Surprisingly, the same district has spent only Rs 8,000 on the maintenance of vehicles in three months ending on June 30 this year. Delhi is divided into 11 police districts.

The Right to Information (RTI) data reveals that the Delhi Police’s security wing had submitted maintenance bills worth Rs 1.41 crore in 2013-14.

“The figures are raising questions and an inquiry is required to check how many fake bills were generated for the maintenance of vehicles,” a senior government official said.

"It is bizarre that cops spent Rs 2 lakh on a bike which cost only Rs 80,000."

At the same time, there are various battalions whose maintenance bills are much lesser in comparison to others.

The Delhi Police’s Fourth battalion has spent Rs 8 lakh in two years. In 2013-14, the battalion spent Rs 5 lakh. Similarly, the Second battalion spent around Rs 6 lakh in three years on maintenance of vehicles.

“Almost 60 per cent of the vehicles are recently inducted into the force. The Delhi Police has a policy to scrap any vehicle which is more than five-year old. And almost 50 per cent of the PCR vans were recently purchased,” a senior police officer said.

"The force got 370 new PCR vans last year itself. Every Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and above rank officers have new vehicles…"

The fleet of police control room (PCR) vans comprises Innova, Tavera, Qualis, Gypsy, SX4, Accent and Ambassador, while Bullet and Pulsar are the preferred choices of city cops when it comes to motorcycles.

The Delhi Police deploy its fleet of four-wheelers and two-wheelers for various assignments, including patrol duty and keeping a check on speed demons in the Capital.