📸 New speed cameras on the ORR are generating confusing challans, anyone else getting these?

Received a traffic challan notification last week for supposedly crossing the speed limit on a stretch of the Outer Ring Road that I do drive fairly regularly, and the confusing part is that I was fairly certain I was driving well within the posted limit at that specific time, since I actually remember checking my speedometer around that exact stretch because of an earlier challan a few months back that made me more cautious there specifically. Looked into it a bit more and apparently a set of new speed cameras were installed on that stretch fairly recently, replacing whatever monitoring existed there before, and a few people in a local driving group I am part of online have mentioned getting similarly confusing challans around the same general timeframe. Nobody in that group has gotten a clear answer yet about whether these new cameras are properly calibrated or whether there is some kind of teething issue with the new system. The challan itself does include a timestamp and a photo, which is more transparent than some older challans I have gotten in the past, but the photo quality is grainy enough that I genuinely cannot tell my own speedometer reading from it, so I am left just trusting the number the system generated without much way to independently verify it myself before deciding whether to pay or contest it. I ended up paying it anyway since the actual amount was not large enough to justify the hassle of a formal dispute process, but it left me slightly uneasy about whether the system is accurate, especially if more of these cameras are planned for other stretches of the ORR going forward based on what I have read in a local news update recently. Has anyone actually gone through the process of contesting one of these newer camera challans, and did it lead anywhere, or is it generally not worth the effort for a smaller amount like this?

An RTI request specifically asking for the calibration and maintenance records of that particular camera might actually be worth filing if this genuinely bothers you enough, it forces an official documented response rather than just informal reassurance from whoever happens to answer the phone, even if the camera itself turns out to be working exactly as intended after all once the records actually come back.

Several people in a driving group I am part of separately have mentioned nearly the exact same confusion around new cameras on different stretches recently too, which does suggest this might genuinely be a wider pattern right now rather than isolated incidents, and honestly makes it feel less like a personal mistake and more like something worth flagging collectively to the traffic department itself.

The detail about being more cautious specifically because of an earlier challan on that exact same stretch stood out to me, since it suggests you were already actively watching your speed there and still ended up with this. That specific detail alone makes an actual system issue feel more likely than simple driver error, and it is worth mentioning directly if you decide to actually contest it later.

Contested a similar camera challan on a completely different road a couple of years back, and it actually did get overturned eventually, though the whole process took nearly six weeks and multiple follow up visits to the traffic office before it was actually resolved. Worth doing for a larger amount, but I understand why most people would not bother for something smaller like your specific case here.

More cameras being planned for other ORR stretches going forward is honestly the part that concerns me most about this whole situation, if there genuinely is a broader calibration issue with this specific batch, it could end up generating a lot more confusing challans across a much wider area before anyone official actually notices and properly addresses the underlying pattern.

Might be worth getting a dashcam specifically for stretches like this one going forward, at least then you would have your own independent record of your actual speed and surroundings to compare directly against any future challan that seems questionable. Would not have helped with this particular one obviously, but could genuinely save the hassle next time something like this happens again.

Read something a while back about newer traffic cameras needing a proper calibration period after installation, apparently accuracy can genuinely drift slightly during the first few weeks before the system settles into consistent readings. If that applies here too, it would explain a cluster of confusing challans specifically right after a new camera goes live rather than this being a permanent ongoing issue with the system.

Paying it despite the unease is honestly what most people end up doing, the actual dispute process rarely feels worth the time and effort for a smaller amount, which if anything probably means fewer inaccurate challans ever actually get properly flagged or corrected by the system itself. That lack of pushback might be part of why teething issues like this take longer to get noticed and fixed.

Grainy challan photos seem to be a consistent issue honestly, got one myself last year from a different camera entirely and the photo quality was similarly bad enough that I genuinely could not verify my own speedometer reading from it either. Feels like the technology generating the fine should also be clear enough to actually let the driver verify it properly before just trusting the number blindly.