Ghaziabad administration collects Rs 1 lakh as fine from people not wearing mask

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad administration has so far collected about Rs one lakh as fine from people caught without face masks.
The administration had a week ago come out with an order in which it had been decided to levy Rs 500 fine on anyone not wearing face mask and till Friday, 195 people were fined.
“We had initially levied a fine of Rs 100 for not wearing face mask in public place and since it was not proving to be a deterrent enough, a week ago we decided to raise the fine amount to Rs 500,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate, Ghaziabad.
“In the last week, we fined 91 people in district’s containment zone and collected Rs 45,500 as fine amount and in non-containment zones a total of 104 people were fined from whom we collected Rs 52,000” added Pandey.
The administration has till date fined a total of 195 people in containment and non-containment zones and have collected Rs 97,500 from the defaulters.
The district magistrate under the pandemic act has given rights to police, municipal officials and officials from district administration to fine those not wearing face masks.
Besides, police have issued challans to 1,763 errant drivers and seized 20 vehicles. A pecuniary fine of Rs 86,700 has been recovered from the vehicle owners.