AI camera service in Kerala remains suspended due to non-payment of outstanding bills by the finance department

An artificial intelligence surveillance camera on Marine Drive in Kochi. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT

The delay by the Kerala Finance Department in clearing Keltron’s quarterly bills has disrupted the services of AI-powered traffic cameras installed across the state. Internet services for the cameras were disconnected by the service provider, Jio, after Keltron failed to pay the private company responsible for the connection.

The finance department releases quarterly funds to Keltron through the Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) for the operation of the facility. KRSA is in turn responsible for paying Keltron’s annuity bills.

Payments have been outstanding for the past 15 months, resulting in arrears of approximately ₹60 million owed to Keltron. According to a senior official of the transport department, KRSA can make payments only after the finance department approves funds from the Kerala Road Safety Fund. As a result, delays in the release of funds by the finance department disrupted services.

Court directive

Meanwhile, SRIT India Private Ltd., the Bengaluru-based company implementing the project, approached the Kerala High Court over the delay in receiving payments from the state government through Keltron. Last month, the Supreme Court had directed the state government and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) to clear outstanding dues through Keltron to a private firm that had installed and maintained automatic AI-powered traffic enforcement cameras on national highways and major thoroughfares across the state under the Safe Kerala project.

The state owes SRIT an outstanding quarterly payment of ₹ 36 crore, which has to be settled within one month as per the High Court order. The project, which has contributed to reducing the number of road accident victims by around 400 per year, has so far generated revenue of around ₹350 crore to the state exchequer. Moreover, if all pending challans are processed and corresponding fines are collected, the total fines could reach around ₹ 1,000 crore, according to a senior Keltron official.

The total cost of the project was ₹235 million when it was launched in 2022, including operation and maintenance costs for five years. According to an MVD official, the cameras remain fully functional even now. However, the process of generating and issuing challans after processing the images captured by the cameras at the enforcement control centers was disrupted due to disruption of internet connectivity.

Published – 04 Jul 2026 18:35 IST