Indian-origin family in Canada gets traffic tickets after licence plate theft

An Indian-origin family from Brampton has been facing stress and traffic tickets for weeks after the licence plate of their car was stolen. Priyanka Kashyap received nine parking tickets amounting to over $400 from the nearby town of Milton even though she reported her licence plate missing to a government department and paid for new ones. Six of the tickets arrived after she reported the theft.

“It’s just frustrating,” Kashyap, who has been trying to sort out the tickets since late May, told CBC News.

The family encountered conflicting information from police and the town while trying to get the tickets dismissed.

On May 24, Kashyap’s brother noticed that the front licence plate of their vehicle was missing. After scanning the security footage, the family came to the conclusion that the plate was most likely stolen two days earlier at a mall.

Kashyap reported the theft to Peel Regional Police on May 27, but was told that a police report was unnecessary.

The next day, Kashyap and her mother, Caroline Novak, visited the police station, where Novak said the police were “very nonchalant”, reported CBC news.

“I was quite flabbergasted that the police weren’t at all concerned,” Novak said.

Following police advice, Kashyap reported the missing plate to Service Ontario, a Canadian government department dealing with documents, on May 28 and paid for new plates. Peel Regional Police explained they don’t file reports without specific evidence of a theft, noting that plates often fall off.

“You’d be surprised at how often members of the public come into the police station with licence plates that they’ve found just on the roadways,” said Constable Tyler Bell.

Two weeks later, Kashyap received notices for overdue parking tickets from Milton, despite not living there.

She discovered eight tickets for her old plate, five of which were issued after the plate was reported missing.

The town of Milton explained that bylaw officers don’t have access to the Ministry of Transport database when issuing tickets.

“I thought it would be pretty simple,” Kashyap said, after showing photos of the plate on a different car.

Town officials insisted on a police report for them to cancel the tickets.

On June 13, Peel police filed a report and coordinated with Halton Regional Police, who later seized the stolen plate.

However, a ninth ticket was issued four days after the report.

“It results in somebody having to make multiple phone calls and take, you know, substantial time out of their life to deal with something that is out of their hands,” said Bell.

Kashyap hopes the tickets will be cancelled but remains frustrated, reported CBC news.

“I know it’s a licence plate and it could have been worse, but it’s still â€æ I feel frustrated,” she said.

Bell added, “At the end of the day, someone victimised them.”