Bangladesh plans nationwide AI traffic fines after highway trial

DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh plans to introduce an artificial intelligence-powered traffic enforcement system across its national highway network, allowing authorities to automatically detect violations and issue fines without requiring police officers to stop drivers on the road.

The system is initially being deployed on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, one of the country’s busiest transport corridors, where hundreds of AI-enabled cameras have been installed to identify offenses including speeding, dangerous overtaking, wrong-way driving, illegal parking, and failure to obey traffic signals.

Bangladesh will expand the system to highways nationwide in phases after assessing how effectively the initial deployment works, according to the Dhaka Tribune. 

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government expects automated enforcement to improve road safety and traffic discipline while allowing quicker and more transparent action against violations.

Under the new system, cameras will record a suspected violation and transmit the vehicle’s information to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, the government agency responsible for vehicle registration and licensing.

The registered owner will then receive a text message detailing the offense and the fine. Payments can be made remotely using mobile financial services, creating an enforcement process that authorities say will be faster and more transparent than conventional roadside policing.

AI cameras have been installed on 490 pillars along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway as part of the initial rollout. Authorities hope automated monitoring will improve traffic discipline and reduce crashes by making enforcement more consistent across heavily travelled roads.

The technology could also make it harder for drivers to repeatedly violate traffic rules without consequences. Repeat offenses may trigger stronger administrative or legal measures, including cancellation of a vehicle’s registration under existing transport regulations.

Bangladesh also plans to use the expanding camera network to tackle illegal toll collection and extortion on highways.

Ahmed said cameras could record such activity regardless of whether those involved were members of transport groups, workers’ organisations or police, providing authorities with evidence for enforcement.

The government is simultaneously seeking tighter control over vehicles considered unsafe for major highways.

Unauthorized or unlicensed three-wheelers and non-motorised vehicles will face enforcement under existing laws, although authorities have been instructed to account for local access roads and vehicles travelling to compressed natural gas filling stations.

The planned nationwide rollout marks a broader shift toward technology-based highway policing in Bangladesh, moving routine traffic enforcement away from direct encounters between motorists and officers and toward automated detection, digital notification and electronic payment.