Truck fined ₹ 2 lakh in Delhi for violation of Motor Vehicles Act

September 12: Just imagine a truck driver/owner fined 3 to 4 times and the amount if added would be almost to the price of a truck. Yes, in a steepest fines imposed under the amended Motor Vehicle Act, a truck owner in Delhi was slapped a hefty fine of ₹ 2 lakh and five hundred for violating the traffic rules on Thursday. The fine on the truck was slapped by Delhi Traffic Police and has to be paid at Rohini Court, which can also reduce the penalty if all the valid documents are produced before it.

The truck driver identified as Ram Krishan was intercepted by Delhi Traffic Police personnel at Mubaraka Chowk near Rohini. While the driver was fined Rs. 1.31 lakh for overloading and other traffic violations, the owner was asked to cough up Rs. 69,500 as penalty. This is the highest fine reported so far ever since the stringent traffic rules came into effect on 1 September, 2019. Here is the breakup of the fine imposed on Ram Krishnan:

• Overloading – Rs. 20,000+ Rs. 36,000 (Rs. 2,000 for each extra tonne. The truck had 18 extra tonnes)
• Without driving license – Rs. 5,000
• Without registration certificate – Rs. 10,000
• Without fitness – Rs. 10,000
• Permit violation – Rs. 10,000
• Without insurance – Rs. 4,000
• Pollution under control certificate – Rs. 10,000
• Uncovered construction material – Rs. 20,000
• Not wearing the seat belt – Rs. 1,000
• Importantly, the challan amount to be paid by driver and an almost equal amount to be paid by vehicle owner amounts to a total fine of Rs. 2,00,500.

On 5 September, a Rajasthan man was fined Rs 1.41 lakh for violating several traffic rules under the amended Motor Vehicle Act in Delhi. Earlier, a truck driver of Odisha’s Sambalpur district was fined a whopping Rs 86,500 for violating several traffic rules on September 3. After a resident of Delhi was fined Rs 23,000 by Gurugram Police for flouting several rules, an auto-rickshaw driver in Gurugram was also fined a whopping Rs 32,500 by traffic cops after he was found carrying absolutely no mandatory vehicle documents and breaking the traffic signal.

A number of states have chosen not to implement the centre’s rules. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi– ruled by the opposition– have hinted that they may not impose the fines. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has flatly rejected any possibility of the people in her state being forced to cough up such “harsh” penalties. While Uttarakhand and Gujarat have announced a cut in penalties for traffic violations under the amended law, Uttar Pradesh became the latest state on Thursday to announce that it was mulling a reduction in the penalties for traffic violations under Act, which came into force on 1 September.

In July, Parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to tighten the traffic rules and regulations and impose stricter punishments for violation in a bid to improve road safety. The Act came into effect from 1 September, 2019. On Wednesday, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said states were well within their rights to reduce fines but they would have to “bear the consequences”.