New Delhi: Starting 1 September, drink driving will cost you Rs 10,000 as penalty while talking on the mobile phone while driving will set your wallet back by Rs 5,000. Jumping a red light will now invite a fine of Rs 1,000.
In the case of subsequent offences, drivers will lose their licenses and vehicle registration certificates.
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has sent the proposal to notify the new penalties for traffic violations as well as 63 other clauses of the Motor Vehicle Act to the law ministry for vetting.
“We will notify the increased penalty for traffic violations from 1 September, subject to law ministry’s vetting,” Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said Wednesday.
The hefty fines and stringent clauses were cleared under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act in Parliament last month.
The fines for all traffic-related offences have been increased by up to 10 times to deter drivers from violating traffic laws. The last time the fines were increased was in 2001.
The maximum fine of Rs 1 lakh is to be imposed on road developers who fail to comply with standards of road design and construction material.
As of now, however, the road ministry is only notifying fines for traffic violations; it will notify the other sections of the Act within two to six months after framing the rules.
“It will take time to frame the remaining rules after which they will be notified,” a senior road transport ministry official said. “Without the notification, the different sections of the law will not become functional.”
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Sections for which rules are being framed
The sections for which new rules are being framed include a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs 25,000 for guardians of minors who are caught driving and causing fatal accidents. This is a new section that was included in the Motor Vehicles law.
“We will notify it in a month or two,” an official added.
Besides, the law also proposes compensation to the tune of Rs 5 lakh for families of fatal road accident victims within four months of the accident.
Ride-hailing service providers will be covered under law
In a first, the law has proposed to bring taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola under its ambit. Presently, there is no law to regulate them. Aggregators violating licensing norms could be fined between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
The law has also proposed a mandatory vehicle recall policy in case a defect is detected.
The Motor Vehicle Act also has stringent penal provisions for government servants caught violating traffic rules. They will have to shell out twice the penalty imposed on the general public.
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If there could be a law against jay-walking, that would have the most impact on road safety. Even in places like Bangalore – supposedly educated people – all seem to shun foot-paths and walk on roads.
Cops will leave you if you pay half the fine as bribe