Gujarat: Over 1,000 traffic cops, Lok Raksha Dal to keep an eye on traffic violators

The violations which will attract penalties from Monday include driving without seat belt (Rs 500), riding without helmet (Rs 500), driving without licence (Rs 2,000 for bikes, Rs 3,000 for cars), driving vehicle without third-party insurance (Rs 2,000), driving vehicle without registration (Rs 1,000 for bikes, Rs 2,000 for cars), driving on the wrong side (Rs 3,000 for cars), illegal parking (Rs 500), driving car with black film (Rs 500), performing stunts or racing (Rs 5,000), not giving way to ambulance (Rs 1,000), over-speeding (Rs 1,500 for bikes, Rs 2,000 for cars) and triple riding (Rs 100).

Traffic police said that they will ensure that all clusters in the city are covered by their staff on Monday.

“We will be deploying our full strength of traffic police and LRDs at all traffic points in the city to keep tabs on violators from morning. No extra deployment of police personnel has been suggested as of now. We will be checking all kinds of violations mentioned in the MV Act except mandatory pollution under control (PUC) certificates and high-security registrations plates,” said Tejas Patel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic (administration).

Last Tuesday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani presented 18 different categories of violations in the MV Act which were recently amended by the union government. Out of these, the state government slashed the penalty amount in 15 of them, which include driving without seat belt, riding without helmet, driving without licence, lacking pollution check certificate or registration, wrong-side driving, illegal parking, over-speeding and triple riding.

The highest penalty has been kept at Rs 5,000 for the first-time offence of driving a four-wheeler without a fitness test certificate, performing stunts on bikes or cars, driving heavy motor vehicles without registration or driving heavy motor vehicles on the wrong side.  People were given time till Sunday to get all the necessary documents and equipment, such as helmets, in place.

However, the state government provided relaxation to people of Gujarat by extending the last date to avail the PUC certificate by September 30 and high-security registration plates by October 15.

If checked by the traffic police, people can also produce online copies of driving licence, insurance, registration certificate and PUC on their phones.

Meanwhile, the Congress Legislature Party leader Paresh Dhanani demanded that the new penalties be completely withdrawn.

In a series of tweets where in one of them Dhanani is seen riding a buffalo cart, the Congress leader said, “gaadi chhodo ane gadu pakdo (quit the car and take the cart)”. Dhanani also demanded that people be “freed from the issue of helmets, toll tax terrorism be stopped”. His other demands include permanent solution to the parking problem; manufacture of pollution-free vehicles promoted and the PUC permission process ended.

Dhanani also demanded that hefty penalties and criminal punishments be imposed on contractors and officials responsible for broken roads.

Rupani had said his government deliberately kept the penalty low for offences such as triple-riding or pillion riding without a helmet. “We often see that people in rural areas do triple-riding due to lack of facilities or resources. So we have waived any penalty on triple-riding on three-wheelers and pillion riders sitting without a helmet,” he had said.