After 8 days of the amended Motor Vehicle Act became effective, over Rs 11 lakh has been collected as fine by RTO, Thiruvananthapuram. The amount was collected during checking conducted by the MVD enforcement squad in the district.
The Regional Transport Office, Ganjam has collected a total fine of over Rs 9 lakh from 470 vehicles for violation of traffic rules under the new MV Act.
Notably, bikers are being fined for not using helmets and car riders for not using seat belts. Besides, fines are also being collected from a two-wheeler, auto-ricksha and car riders for not having a driving license, vehicle ownership, and pollution certificates and for drunken driving as well.
Transport offices in Haryana, Assam, and Odisha have collected more than Rs. 1.4 crore in fines and penalties since new traffic rules under the revised Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019 came into effect on Sunday. Haryana has raised Rs. 52 lakh, with nearly Rs. 10 lakh from just Gurgaon. Odisha has collected more than Rs. 88 lakh.
Record traffic fine collections over the past five days prompted anoutburst from Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who took to Twitter to criticizeHaryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's government, posting snapshots oftwo Hindi news reports that highlighted fines of Rs. 59,000 for a tractordriver and Rs. 94,000 for an auto driver.
According to the report shared by Mr. Surjewala, Gurgaon police issued traffic violation challans to three auto drivers. The first of these was for Rs. 94,000 and the other two were for Rs. 37,000 and Rs. 27,000. The drivers of all three autos were allegedly operating without proper documents.
Many believe the stricter penalties under the new law will improve road safety across the country. On Saturday, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the fines would "definitely result in a reduction in accidents and improve compliance of traffic rules by vehicle owners."
However, states like Punjab and Madhya Pradesh both Congress-ruled have yet to enforce the new penalties over concerns of heavy fines for minor offenses.
Despite Mr. Gahlot's statement, Delhi has also yet to issue a notification and is set to hold talks with "various stakeholders including traffic police" to discuss if some cases can be settled out of court.
The Traffic Control Wing Imphal City has managed to recover a sum of Rs 4, 41, 200 from commuters violating traffic rules. A statement issued by SP Sarma Devi of Traffic Police informed the extensive drive began from August 21 last. The amount was recovered from the 3849 cases that were taken up for violating the Motor Vehicle Act 1989. It said the violators included those driving without helmets and from those who did not possess relevant documents.
The statement further informed that there were 1083 instances when under-aged drivers warned and released for violating traffic rules.
