Traffic rules violation to burn bigger hole in your pocket

UP cabinet approves proposal seeking revision in rates of compounding fee

LUCKNOW : Violating rules of the road will burn even bigger holes in offenders’ pockets in Uttar Pradesh with the state cabinet approving the transport department’s proposal seeking revision in rates of compounding fee (on-the-spot settlement) in respect of various traffic offences. The state government’s notification in this regard is expected early next week.

Non-production of documents (DL, registration certificate, fitness, pollution etc) on demand by an authority will attract a compounding fee of Rs 500, when the offence is committed for the first time and Rs 1,500 on subsequent offences. However, carrying original documents is not mandatory and they will be accepted in electronic form as well.

The state government has revised the rates of compounding fee in the light of the revised amount of fines and penalties affected by the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019. Though the amended Act came into force in the country from September 1, 2019, UP was compounding offences at old rates fixed a few months before the new Act was notified.

Under the Act, states have the power to compound almost all,

barring a few, offences under the MV Act and fix the fee for the same. Compounding is a mutually agreed upon formula under which an offender has an option to go for on-the-spot settlement with the police by paying the compounding fee as fixed by the government for each offence to avoid facing prosecution by the court.

“Traditionally, compounding is generally 50% of the amount of fine/penalty prescribed in the Act to encourage people for an on-the-spot settlement,” said a senior transport official, adding, “But this time, the compounding rates have been kept higher so that they act as a deterrent, in view of the growing number of accidents in the state.”

Speeding, found to be a major cause for road accidents, has

been kept out of the category of compoundable offences.

This means anyone caught driving at speed exceeding the permissible limit, will be liable to cough up a fine of Rs 2,000 in case of an LMV (cars, SUVs etc) and Rs 4,000 if the vehicle involved is a medium or heavy one.

In fixing the compounding fee in case of some offences, the department has taken into consideration the penalty prescribed for committing a subsequent offence rather than one fixed for the offence committed for the first time.

UP increased rates of compounding fee in 2019 only in anticipation of the amended MV Act. “Had it not been so, the increase would have given a bigger shock to people,” sources pointed out.