Motor Vehicles Act: Centre Backs Hefty Fines, States Oppose Them
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was cleared by the Parliament in July and came into effect on 1 September.
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Ever since the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act came into force on 1 September, many states have called for a relaxation, terming the hefty fines unfeasible, even as the Centre justified the steep fine amounts.
Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are among the few states who have called out the revised fines under the tightened laws.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, 11 September, said the revised fines were implemented not as a revenue income scheme but for the welfare of the people.
WHO IS OPPOSING THE ACT AND WHY?
KARNATAKA
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday said the state will be relaxing the fines for traffic rules violations like the Gujarat government did.
“We are relaxing the fines for traffic violations, similar to what the Gujarat government has put in place. Similar relaxation of the fines will be implemented here so that burden on motorists comes down. We will have to see by how much percent we can bring it down,” he said.
WEST BENGAL
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to implement the hefty fines under the Act in West Bengal saying it will “overburden people”.
“I can't implement this Motor Vehicle Act right now because our government officials are of the opinion that if we implement it will be overburden people,” she said. She also said the amount of fines under the amended act are “too harsh”.
MAHARASHTRA
Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote on Wednesday said he urged the government to reconsider and reduce the fines prescribed under the Act.
“The fines prescribed in the new Motor Vehicles Act have increased exorbitantly. Central government is requested to reconsider and reduce the same by making suitable amendments in the Act,” he wrote to Union Minister Gadkari.
Gadkari told ANI the “Maharashtra Transport Minister was a part of the committee that approved the Act. During my discussion with Devendra Fadnavis, he didn't mention it. I feel there'll be no problem.”
GUJARAT
The BJP-ruled Gujarat government on Tuesday, 10 September, announced a drastic cut in the penalties for traffic violations.
The fine under the amended Act for driving a two-wheeler without helmet is Rs 1,000, but Chief Minister Vijay Rupani clarified that in Gujarat the fine will be Rs 500. The penalty for offence in the state, currently, is a mere Rs 100.
Similarly the chief minister cited relaxations on multiple offences. While the Central law has proposed a fine of Rs 1,000 for pillion rider not wearing helmet, this provision will not be implemented at all in Gujarat, Rupani said.
RAJASTHAN
On Sunday, 1 September, Rajasthan Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas had said the state government is considering to provide practical relief to violators of the amended Motor Vehicles Act from hefty penalty charges.
Khachariyawas said motorcycles are the mode of transport of the common people and it is not practical to impose hefty fines on them. In some cases, the penalty could be higher than the cost of the vehicle, PTI reported.
A trucker from Rajasthan paid a penalty of Rs 1.41 lakh after being caught for overloading by the enforcement wing of the Delhi transport department.
He said there is no conflict of interest between the state government and the Centre on the Motor Vehicles Act, but effective prevention of accidents is only possible if ideas and practical suggestions are mutually exchanged.
DELHI
The Delhi government, too, decided to have wide consultations with various stakeholders, including the city traffic police, before issuing the notification for compounding various offences under the amended Motor Vehicles Act.
“Since heavy penalties have been prescribed under the Act after a gap of many years, the compounding notification will be issued after wider consultation with traffic police and other stake holders,” said Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.
MADHYA PRADESH
The Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh said the Motor Vehicles Act will not be enforced in the state as of now and would be implemented once people are made aware of the enhanced fines.
"The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act would not come into effect from 1 September in MP. First there is a need to educate people over the new law. Let people come to know of the fines, then we will activise the law,” said MP Law and Legal Affairs Minister PC Sharma.
UTTARAKHAND
The BJP government in Uttarakhand also announced relaxations on the newly-imposed fines.
"We have given relaxations on penalties for traffic violations under certain sections of the Act. Centre has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for driving with expired licence but we have brought it down to Rs 5000," Uttarakhand Minister Madan Kaushik said on Thursday.
TELANGANA
The Telangana government is not in a haste to implement the new penalty system under the amended Motor Vehicles Act, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on 15 September.
Rao also said the state government would come out with its own law on the subject.
"The new Act brought by the Centre will not be implemented for now. We will make our own law. We are not in a hurry (to implement the new penalties). We do not want to harass people (with hefty fines)," Rao reportedly said.
He was responding to a request from AIMIM MLA Jaffer Hussain in the Legislative Assembly.
KERALA
The Kerala government will write to the Centre over the new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, and has decided to put on hold its implementation in the state.
"The central minister himself said that he is going to issue an order that the state government can modify the fines etc according to their convenience. So we have decided to wait for that,” ANI quoted State Transport Minister AK Saseendran as saying on 16 September.
"We are not collecting fine, but using this as an awareness campaign period. We will be writing to the central government today. We have requested the central government to either give permission to the state government for modification or the central government should itself announce an ordinance so as to modify the Act," he added.
WHAT DOES THE CENTRE SAY?
Nitin Gadkari said the states will be responsible if they try to dilute traffic violation fines.
He also said the revised fines are implemented to “create fear and respect for the law”.
WHAT IS MOTOR VEHICLES (AMENDMENT) ACT?
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was cleared by the Parliament in July and came into effect on 1 September. The Act provides revised fines for traffic rules violations by the commuters.
Under the new rules, the fine for riding a two-wheeler without a helmet has been increased to Rs 1,000 from Rs 100.
Using cellphones while driving can invite a fine between Rs 1,000-5,000 which was earlier Rs 1,000.
For drunk driving, the fine has been hiked from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. Speeding has a penalty anywhere between Rs 1,000- Rs 2,000.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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