Bengaluru Introduces Smart Attendance to Track Traffic Police on Duty

Bengaluru's traffic police have introduced a new digital attendance system to ensure that officers report to duty on time and remain at their assigned locations. The initiative uses a geo-tagging e-attendance feature built into the Astra mobile application, replacing the older biometric attendance machines.

Under the new system, officers are required to log in using their smartphones by taking a selfie with a timestamp and location tag at the start of their shift. The image is automatically verified against their Aadhaar photograph to confirm their identity and presence at the designated junction. This process ensures that officers are physically present at their allotted posts rather than marking attendance remotely.

Improving Monitoring and Punctuality

Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Bengaluru Traffic Police, said that the department had long needed a reliable way to verify attendance across the city's 1,000 junctions. "Our personnel work in two shifts - 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm. Until now, there was no accurate method to confirm whether staff were actually present at their assigned locations," he explained.

The new feature allows senior officers to track movements within specific zones, ensuring better coverage and accountability. Strict punctuality rules have also been implemented: officers must clock in between 7.00 am and 7.15 am for the morning shift. Those who log in after 7.15 am are marked late, and any entries after 7.30 am are automatically treated as absences.

Noticeable Drop in Absenteeism

Since the introduction of the e-attendance system, absenteeism among Bengaluru's traffic police has dropped significantly. Previously, between 800 and 1,000 officers were deployed daily across the city, and maintaining consistent attendance was a major challenge. Now, only one to three officers fail to report for duty on an average day.

The system sends instant alerts to senior officials about any repeated late arrivals or early departures, improving transparency and discipline.

One of the key features of the system is 'geofencing', which ensures that officers are within a 50-square-metre radius of their designated junction for attendance to be accepted. If an officer attempts to log in outside this boundary, the system automatically rejects the entry.