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Microsoft Hyderabad Joins Hands with Cyberabad Police in Spreading Traffic Awareness among Employees

Microsoft Hyderabad today announced the successful completion of TOFFEE (Total Offense Free Entity), a traffic awareness initiative

December 20, 2011


December 20, 2011, Hyderabad: Microsoft Hyderabad today announced the successful completion of TOFFEE (Total Offense Free Entity), a traffic awareness initiative organized by Hyderabad campus employees in association with the Cyberabad police. TOFFEE is a certificate issued by the Cyberabad Police in the form of a sticker, which exempts its holder from being stopped for routine document checks by the traffic police within the Cyberabad Police jurisdiction. At a function held at the Microsoft Hyderabad campus, the Commissioner of Police, CH. D. Tirumala Rao distributed 246 TOFFEE certificates to the company employees.
 Cyberabad Police jurisdiction
This citizenship effort is one of its kind and unique in India, initiated by the employees of an MNC in association with the traffic police. It was started by a Microsoft employee in Hyderabad who is passionate about safe driving, and who involved other like-minded colleagues to volunteer for this effort. As part of the campaign, Microsoft employees in Hyderabad were encouraged to submit relevant documents such as copies of the Registration Certificate (RC), lifetime tax paid receipt (for non AP registered vehicles), insurance certificate, driving license (if the vehicle is not self-driven, the driving license of the driver), and a valid pollution under control certificate (PUC). Their driving was monitored over a period of time by the volunteers to ensure they followed traffic rules.

Based on the recommendations of the volunteers, the Cyberabad Traffic Police issued Toffee Certification with a validity period of one year. Vehicles with TOFFEE certification will not be stopped for normal/ routine checks by the Cyberabad Traffic Police within its limits. Moreover, the entire process is automated and participants will receive alerts for renewing their PUC, insurance etc., well in advance.

Commenting on this initiative, Commissioner of Police, CH. D. Tirumala Rao, said, "This campaign places special emphasis on getting the right documentation in place and by supporting this initiative we aim at spreading awareness on traffic rules and encourage people to be law abiding".
"We sincerely hope that, through this campaign, we have contributed towards improving awareness about the basics of road safety and traffic laws. We are thankful to Microsoft Hyderabad campus for coming up with this idea, and will be glad to support similar initiatives from other companies should they be interested," he added.

The TOFFEE program was initiated by Anumod Thomas, an employee at Microsoft Hyderabad campus. Explaining how he came up with the idea, Anumod said, "Shocked at the number of traffic related offences and accidents which were happening in the IT hub of Hyderabad, I decided to take up this initiative. When I floated the idea, I was soon joined by some colleagues who shared similar concerns. The company fully supported me in making this endeavor successful. I am extremely thrilled and hope that other companies in Cyberabad will also take up this initiative. This will go a long way in making Cyberabad a better and safer place."

About Microsoft Hyderabad

Microsoft's Hyderabad campus houses Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt Ltd and Microsoft Global Delivery. Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt Ltd (MIRPL) is one of Microsoft Corporation's largest R&D centers outside its headquarters in Redmond, focused on engineering for both external and internal software products. Microsoft Services Global Delivery is the global delivery organization of Microsoft Services worldwide. In just six years of its operations, Global Delivery has established a global footprint by delivering cutting edge services solutions to leading enterprises across the world.
For further details, please contact:

Parvathy Jaya / Sneha Sunder
Genesis Burson-Marsteller
+91 99620 67989/ +91 96423 20033
parvathy.jaya@bm.com/ sneha.sunder@bm.com

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