Hefty hikes for six traffic violations may return

Days after the Centre said state governments had no authority to reduce fines for violation of rules under the Motor Vehicle Act, 2019, officials in the RTO are looking for official communication to decide on restoring the full amount of fine.

In September last year, after the amended Act resulted in hefty hikes for traffic violations, Karnataka followed several states in issuing a notification reducing the penalty for 24 violations.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had sought the opinion of the Union Law Ministry on whether states had the power to reduce penalties. Last week, MoRTH reportedly wrote letters that the state governments cannot make laws or pass executive orders to reduce penalties for road safety violations.

Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar said he was aware of the developments but was yet to receive any official communication from the Centre.

“We will get clarifications from the (state) government before proceeding. If the government agrees with the Centre’s stance, we have to increase the penalty for six violations,” he said.

In September last year, the road transport ministry had issued a note on ‘compoundable and non-compoundable’ offences.

The state governments were allowed to reduce fines on compoundable violations. Officials said Karnataka may have crossed the line in reducing fines for six violations.

Hefty fines to be restored

Officials said slashing fines for failing to wear helmet and seat belt from Rs 1,000 to Rs 500, 50% cut on penalty for use of horns in silent zones, a reduction of Rs 500 in general violations, a huge cut in fine for carrying excess weight from Rs 20,000 to Rs 5,000, and slashing fine using vehicle without registration from 5,000 to 2,000 for 2W/3W and 3,000 for LMV were done considering the public demand.

“Following the Centre’s direction means restoring the full component of the penalty as notified by the amended Motor Vehicle Act. A decision on this will be taken within a week or two,” officials in the Regional Transport Office said.