CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government will not impose hefty fines on traffic rule violators in most of the offences where the amount of fine has not been fixed in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019. The state governments have discretion to finalize the amount of fine out of the slab prescribed in the amended law for some traffic rule violations.
The notification of the new rules in the Congress-ruled Punjab would take around 10 days and till then, the enforcement agencies would continue to levy old fines across the state. The amended MV Act has already come into force from September 1 after which hefty fines are being levied by the neighbouring state of Haryana.
Punjab transport minister Razia Sultana reasoned "traffic rule violations are a major cause of road accidents which claim innocent lives every day and commuters must be hammered down to comply with the traffic rules. But at the same time, citizens must not reel under the burden of huge penalties."
She has already discussed the matter with the chief minister, Amarinder Singh. A meeting of the Punjab government officials to decide on the amount of fine to be levied on traffic rule violators was held on Thursday. It was attended by principal secretary transport K Siva Prasad, additional director-general of police (traffic) SS Chauhan and transport commissioner Dilraj Singh Sandhawalia.
At Thursday's meeting, it was proposed to levy Rs 2,000 fine for use of mobile phone while driving, Rs 1,000 in case of over-speeding by light motor vehicles and Rs 2,000 for over-speeding by heavy motor vehicles.
Similarly, Rs 2,000 has been proposed for first offence of dangerous driving (Rs 10,000 is fixed for subsequent offence in the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019), Rs 5,000 on the commercial vehicle without fitness certificate, Rs 2,000 on the vehicle plying without registration and Rs 2,000 on the private bus conductor without licence. In the amended law, offences like drunk driving, a juvenile driving a vehicle and jumping traffic lights are non-compoundable and these cases are to be sent to court.
The fixed fine of Rs 20,000 in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, for plying overloaded trucks and the fixed fine of Rs 20,000 for plying vehicles with over-dimension cargo would affect most of the truck operators and tractor-trolley owners in Punjab. Similarly, the fixed fine of Rs 10,000 for plying buses without permit is also going to hit a number of private bus operators. The state government has no discretion to decide on amount of fines for these violations.
It was disclosed at the meeting that the state has already been imposing heavy penalties on traffic rule violators on the lines of the Chandigarh administration before the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, came into force. The decisions taken in Thursday's meeting would now be placed before the transport minister before issuance of the final notification.
The notification of the new rules in the Congress-ruled Punjab would take around 10 days and till then, the enforcement agencies would continue to levy old fines across the state. The amended MV Act has already come into force from September 1 after which hefty fines are being levied by the neighbouring state of Haryana.
Punjab transport minister Razia Sultana reasoned "traffic rule violations are a major cause of road accidents which claim innocent lives every day and commuters must be hammered down to comply with the traffic rules. But at the same time, citizens must not reel under the burden of huge penalties."
She has already discussed the matter with the chief minister, Amarinder Singh. A meeting of the Punjab government officials to decide on the amount of fine to be levied on traffic rule violators was held on Thursday. It was attended by principal secretary transport K Siva Prasad, additional director-general of police (traffic) SS Chauhan and transport commissioner Dilraj Singh Sandhawalia.
At Thursday's meeting, it was proposed to levy Rs 2,000 fine for use of mobile phone while driving, Rs 1,000 in case of over-speeding by light motor vehicles and Rs 2,000 for over-speeding by heavy motor vehicles.
Similarly, Rs 2,000 has been proposed for first offence of dangerous driving (Rs 10,000 is fixed for subsequent offence in the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019), Rs 5,000 on the commercial vehicle without fitness certificate, Rs 2,000 on the vehicle plying without registration and Rs 2,000 on the private bus conductor without licence. In the amended law, offences like drunk driving, a juvenile driving a vehicle and jumping traffic lights are non-compoundable and these cases are to be sent to court.
The fixed fine of Rs 20,000 in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, for plying overloaded trucks and the fixed fine of Rs 20,000 for plying vehicles with over-dimension cargo would affect most of the truck operators and tractor-trolley owners in Punjab. Similarly, the fixed fine of Rs 10,000 for plying buses without permit is also going to hit a number of private bus operators. The state government has no discretion to decide on amount of fines for these violations.
It was disclosed at the meeting that the state has already been imposing heavy penalties on traffic rule violators on the lines of the Chandigarh administration before the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, came into force. The decisions taken in Thursday's meeting would now be placed before the transport minister before issuance of the final notification.
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