What happened
Kerala launched the Safe Kerala Project in June 2018 to cut road accidents with camera-based traffic enforcement. The Motor Vehicles Department appointed KELTRON, a state electronics company, to install and run AI cameras across the state. The cameras began operating on 5 June 2023. India's Comptroller and Auditor General audited the department from August 2024 to January 2025, and the report was countersigned on 5 May 2026. The auditors tabulated compounding fees for offenses detected by each type of camera. Offenses detected by the AI cameras carried ₹351.00 crore in fees, and ₹100.70 crore, or 28.69%, had been collected. The auditors concluded that the uncollected penalties defeated the system's purpose of deterring violations. They also found that the system ran without a valid agreement and that KELTRON's dual role breached state guidelines. The government replied that it had sought funds to repair and relocate cameras. The report gives no period for the table and does not describe the cameras' software.
Sources
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Audit report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Table 2.24: Details of collection against collectable compounding fees for the offences detected by various types of surveillance cameras (₹ in crore) Enforcement Collectable Collected Percentage Pending Percentage System revenue revenue collected revenue pending AI Cameras 351.00 100.70 28.69% 250.30 71.31%
The non-collection of penalty imposed for violations detected by the surveillance cameras defeated the purpose of implementation of the system.
despite the project's operationalisation on 05 June 2023, significant concerns remain regarding agreement revisions, revenue collection, and the actual effectiveness of the AI camera system
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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KELTRON installed and ran AI cameras across Kerala under a five-year Built Operate Own Transfer agreement signed on 28 May 2020. The cameras detected traffic offenses from 5 June 2023, and the department levied compounding fees for them.
Money
- Kind of value
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Compounding fees collected for offenses that the AI cameras detected, out of ₹351.00 crore collectable
- Amount
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₹100.70 crore
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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Penalties for detected offenses must be collected for the cameras to deter violations. The system must run under a valid agreement, with cameras repaired or relocated where needed.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road traffic enforcement.
- Purpose
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KELTRON, as implementing agency, built and runs the Safe Kerala Project's AI camera system to detect traffic offenses across Kerala and reduce road accidents.
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model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, AI contribution, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, currency and prices, period and unit, realization, gross or net, included costs, comparison, method, return and payback, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.
Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Kerala's AI cameras flagged ₹351.00 crore in fees, 28.69% collected (AIBD-1144). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1144.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)