Odisha government earns whopping Rs 34.82 lakh towards fine from traffic violators

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha collected a whopping Rs 34.82 lakh towards fine from traffic violators within 48 hours of enforcement of the amended Motor Vehicle Act. Commerce and Transport Secretary G Srinivas said Rs 19.36 lakh was collected towards fine from the road rule violators on September 1 while Rs 15.46 lakh was collected next day.

A total 1,639 vehicle drivers were imposed penalties for violating traffic rules and regulations in the last two days. RTOs in different districts seized 15 vehicles on the first day and five vehicles on the second day, Srinivas said. He said acting on the directive of the State Government, the department has strongly enforced the amended MV Act.

Though there was partial relaxation in enforcement in certain parts of the State on September 2 and 3 for Ganesh Puja and Nuakhai festivals, the enforcement activities will resume from Wednesday. The State Government has asked the Director-General of Police (DGP) to ensure collection of enhanced fines from the road rule violators as per the amended Act.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy has already requested the DGP to shift the existing mode of manual enforcement to e-Challan to make the process more transparent. The Transport department will provide 500 machines integrated with Vahan and Sarathi applications in the first phase to facilitate the e-Challan initiative.