Police recover Rs 1 crore more as fines for violations of traffic laws

RANCHI: The state police have collected more than Rs 1 crore as fines for violations of traffic laws and lockdown norms during the ongoing vehicle-checking drive.
As per to figures provided by the state government, 7,287 persons paid a fine of more than Rs 49,27,000 for not wearing helmet and 1,225 paid Rs 38,06,000 for driving without licence. Rs 4,83,300 was paid as penalty by 1,845 people for not wearing masks.
The fines being collected seem arbitrary — while Rs 1,000 was collected from ten persons in Ramgarh for not wearing masks, an equal amount was taken from two persons in Lohardaga.
Similarly, as per the traffic police, fine for riding a two-wheeler without helmet is Rs 1,000 while the amount for riding without licence is Rs 5,000, but going by the figures shared by the department Rs 6,76 per head was paid by those not wearing helmet while Rs 3,000 was paid by those without licence.
State police spokesperson and ADG ML Meena said, “The figures have been provided by the transport department and we have not calculated it at our level. The collections will be reviewed at our end,”.
Ranchi’s city SP Saurav Singh said , “Police are stressing on persuasion to ensure people wear masks. Cases are, however, registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the Epidemic Act against repeat offenders.”