Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy on Sunday said that the fines imposed over traffic rules violations would be revised in the next 2-3 days.
He clarified that hefty fines were not being imposed on traffic rule violators to generate revenue. The intention was to ensure that people follow traffic rules out of the fear of being penalised heavily.
He also opined that hefty fines would also increase corruption as the police might take 50% of the fine amount from the traffic offender and leave him or her without registering a case.
Meanwhile, JD(S) MLA and former Minister S.R. Srinivas criticised Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for his decision to reduce fines. He said Mr. Yediyurappa would be crazy if he reduced the penalties. He said imposition of the new rules should be continued in order to prevent traffic violations in the State.
In foreign countries, hefty fines are slapped on those who violate traffic rules and if a vehicle causes two accidents, then the owner of the vehicle will be sent to jail, Mr. Srinivas said.
Out of the fear of hefty fines, people will follow traffic rules and by doing so, the government should try to bring a change in the mindset of citizens to follow traffic rules, he argued. He said Mr. Yediyurappa should not follow blindly what Gujarat is doing in terms of implementation of the new traffic rules.