GOVT PLANS MEGA FINES TO CHECK TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS

Considering proposal to raise existing fines by as much as 500% for various traffic offences in the wake of increasing number of road mishaps and fatalities

LUCKNOW : Using a cellphone while driving, jumping the red light, not wearing a seatbelt, over-speeding or breaching any other road rule may soon attract a heftier fine by the traffic cops. Sources said the Uttar Pradesh government is seriously considering a proposal to raise the existing fines by as much as 500% for various traffic offences in a bid to make people follow the rules. The transport department proposal is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet soon.

LUCKNOW: Using a cellphone while driving, jumping the red light, not wearing a seatbelt, over-speeding or breaching any other road rule may soon attract a heftier fine by the traffic cops.

Sources said that the Uttar Pradesh government is seriously considering a proposal to raise the existing fines by as much as 500% for various traffic offences in a bid to make people follow the rules, as recently there have been an increasing number of road mishaps and fatalities in the state.

The transport department proposal is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet very soon.

“A proposal for the upward revision of traffic penalties is under consideration in the government,” said transport commissioner P Guruprasad.

The offence of driving a motor vehicle without a driving licence is proposed to be penalized with a fine of Rs 2,500 against Rs 400 at present, while driving by a ‘disqualified’ person could attract a fine of over Rs 5,000 per offence from Rs 400 fine at present.

Lending one’s driving licence could attract fine of Rs 500 for first time offence and Rs 1,000 for second time offence against flat Rs 100 per offence at present. Not producing DL on demand during checking is proposed to be fined with Rs 500 and Rs 1000 on repeat offence. It is only Rs 100 per offence at present.

Driving an unregistered motor vehicle may be fined with Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively on first and second offence against the existing Rs 4,000 per offence.

A vehicle that is registered in some other state will not be allowed to be operated in UP for more than 12 months unless registered here. Any such vehicle could be fined Rs 300 on first offence and Rs 500 on second offence in place of Rs 100 per offence at present.

Over-speeding that is held to responsible for maximum road accidents has been sought to be curbed with the highest hike in fine.

The transport department proposes to increase the fine amount from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 for a light motor vehicle and Rs 4,000 for medium and heavy vehicles. Causing someone to over-speed will be punished the same way.

Driving dangerously in a public place will be punished with Rs 2,500 in place of the present Rs 800 while the penalty for parking dangerously could be increased from Rs 100 to Rs 300 on first offence and Rs 1000 for second time offence.

Violating road safety rules like using hooters, not using reflectors etc has been sought to be fined with Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 on offence for first and second time in place of Rs 1,000 per offence. The penalty for driving an uninsured vehicle has been proposed to be enhanced from Rs 800 to Rs 2,000.

The fine for using a mobile phone or walkman while driving, not wearing a seatbelt/helmet etc is proposed to be raised from Rs 100 per offence to Rs 500 on first offence and Rs 1000 on repeat offence while jumping traffic signals etc is proposed to be fined with Rs 300 first time and Rs 500 second time in place of Rs 100 per offence.

The fine for tripling may be hiked to Rs 300 for first offence and Rs 500 for the subsequent offence from Rs 100 per offence at present. The penalty for travelling without a valid ticket in a state bus has been proposed to be increased to 500 from Rs 100 per offence.

A transport official who did not wish to be named, however, said that increasing penalties amount, per se, might not necessarily serve as deterrence to those violating rules.

“Unless a fear is created among the people that their act of rule violation will be caught and punished without fail, mere enhancing summon fee (fines) may not work,” he said. “On the contrary, it only may end up enhancing traffic cops’ bargaining powers, vis-à-vis violators, who are willing to get the issue ‘settled’,” he added.