The Motor Vehicles Amendment Act has waded into controversy with multiple states accusing the Centre of burdening the common man with heavy fines. The Act, which came into effect from September 1, aims at stricter punishment for violation of traffic regulations and to bring discipline on roads.
The government has notified 63 provisions of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019, including the ones dealing with enhanced penalties for various traffic offences, from September 1. The new rules also enhance the penalty for drunken driving to imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine of Rs 15,000 for the second offence. Besides, the penalty for driving without a license will be increased from up to Rs 500 to Rs 5,000. Fine for not wearing a seatbelt would attract a fine of Rs 1,000 as against Rs 100 at present. The over-speeding penalty has been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.
The day-long transport strike against the steep rise in traffic fines caused severe hardship to thousands of people in Delhi-NCR Thursday as a large number of autos, cabs, and private buses remained off the roads. Among the worst-hit were people arriving at the railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and the airport. At many places, the strikers forcibly stopped the few autos and taxis that agreed to ferry commuters, charging fares much higher than usual. Read more
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The Noida Police arrested 18 people for forcible stopping vehicles and taking away their keys amid the ongoing strike. Six men each were held in Sector 49 and Sector 24 police station areas, while three each were arrested from Phase 2 and Phase 3 police station areas, news agency PTI quoted a Noida administration official said. "These people had forcible stopped vehicles plying in the city and taken away the keys. All this was done to force them to join the transporters' strike called today in Delhi NCR," Shailendra Mishra, Noida City Magistrate said. "All accused were held under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 151 and have been sent behind bars, as further proceedings are underway," Mishra added. (PTI)
Violation of the odd-even road rationing rule, scheduled to kick in from November 4 in the city, will invite a fine of Rs 20,000 as per the amended Motor Vehicles Act, officials said on Thursday. Earlier, when the odd-even scheme was imposed by the Delhi government in January and April 2016, the violation was punishable with a fine of Rs 2,000. However, a final decision on the size of penalty has not been made since the notification of compoundable offences under the amended MV Act is yet to be notified by the Delhi government, an official said.
The Motor Vehicles Act, which was implemented in Gujarat last week, saw the traffic police issue challans to over 4,500 violators in Ahmedabad and collected a mammoth fine of Rs 27.5 lakh within just two days. The largest number of offenders were those riding two-wheelers without helmets. Fine of Rs 3,11,000 was recovered from 622 of them. Moreover, Rs 90,000 was recovered from 398 who were penalised for parking illegally. A total of 362 people were caught triple riding on bikes and 226 were challaned for not wearing seatbelts. Read more
Tension clutched the traffic naka between Chandigarh's Sector 33/45 dividing road on Tuesday, as two women two-wheeler riders, who were challaned for riding without wearing a helmet, alleged that the traffic police were unnecessarily harassing them. The women, who were challaned separately, also called their family members to the scene. However, later the accusations were found baseless and one of the men, who had come in support of the women, was identified as a psychiatric patient.
Commuters had to face difficulties as several private buses, cabs and autos decided to remain off the road on Thursday and protest against the hefty fines under the amended Motor Vehicles Act. Many schools in the Delhi/NCR region remained shut, while some asked the parents to drop off/pick-up their children. However, services of Delhi Metro, DTC and cluster buses remained unaffected by the protest.
While Chandigarh witnesses fight between police and the motorists regarding the issuance of challans, Panchkula Police is taking a much- needed step to make public aware of the recent amendments in the Motor Vehicle Act. During the three-day awareness campaign, which began on Friday, Panchkula Police banned issuing challans against the traffic violators. The violators would be educated about the amendments.
Commuters faced difficulties as cabs, autos, and cluster buses stayed off road in Delhi today to protest against hefty fines in the amended Motor Vehicles Act.
Passengers stranded outside the New Delhi Railway Station Thursday (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)
Students boarding DTC buses. Private and cluster buses are part of the transport strike (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)
Autos outside New Delhi Railway Station stay vacant. Auto unions are also part of the strike (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)
After several states refused to implement to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, Uttarakhand government last week decided to adopt the act but with certain changes, providing relief to violators of the amended Motor Vehicles Act from hefty penalty charges in various cases of violation.
The state cabinet has decided that a penalty of Rs 2,500 only will be charged in the case of allowing an unauthorised person to drive a vehicle. The Centre had proposed penalty of Rs 5,000 in this case.
Likewise, the penalty has been reduced from Rs 5,000– the amount proposed by the Centre– to Rs 2,500 in case a person drives a vehicle without a licence or a minor drives vehicle at any public place.
Office-goers faced difficulties in reaching their workplaces on Thursday morning as several private buses, taxis and autorickshaws remained off the roads due to a strike called by the UFTA against the amended MV Act provisions.
Kishore Lal, a government employee, said he had to take the metro as the daily chartered bus from his residential colony to his office did not ply.
"We waited for 15 minutes but the bus did not come. So we are taking the metro now," Lal, whose office is at the CGO complex, said.
The DTC buses were more crowded than usual due to the extra load of passengers. Some autorickshaws were also seen ferrying passengers. Kishan Chand, an autorickshaw driver, said this could be because the night shift ended at 8 am. The autorickshaws would stop ferrying passengers as the day progressed, he added. (PTI)
Many schools in the national capital will remain closed on Thursday as a transport body, comprising 41 associations and unions, has called for a one-day token strike against various provisions of the amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act.
Many parents received messages from their children's schools informing them that educational institutes will be closed on Thursday. "Most of the schools have announced off due to strike of transporters and preparatory leave of ongoing exams," said Bharat Arora, general secretary of the Action Committee of unaided recognised private schools.
A message from GD Salwan Public school read, "Dear Parent, on account of the strike called by Private Transporters under the banner of United Front of Transport Association in Delhi/NCR, the school shall remain closed for the students of classes Nursery, KG & 10th on 19/092019."
Other schools which have sent similar messages to parents of the students are ITL Public School, Dwarka, Chinmaya Vidyalaya and DPS, Mathura Road.
Commuters may face hardships in the national capital on Thursday as transport bodies have given a one-day token strike call against various provisions of the amended Motor Vehicle (MV) Act, including steep hike in penalties for various traffic-related offences.
United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA) office bearers on Wednesday alleged that both the Centre and the Delhi government is forcing them to go for the strike.
"We have been seeking redressal of our grievances related to the new MV Act from both the Centre and the Delhi government for the last 15 days, but no solution is there is sight forcing us to go on one-day strike," UFTA general secretary Shyamlal Gola told PTI.
Many state governments are not convinced by the provisions of hefty fines. States including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Punjab, and West Bengal have not enforced the new penalties. States like Gujarat, Kerala and Delhi have expressed reservations.
Express Editorial: The new Motor Vehicles Act, which came into effect on September 1, has provoked controversy. The overarching aim of the new law — to bring down the number of road accidents in the country — has wide support. But the penalties stipulated under the Act have attracted criticism. Punitive measures, however stringent, will not achieve much without adequate number of traffic police personnel and road-safety devices like traffic lights. Read more
The day-long transport strike in Delhi, NCR today will remain in force from 6 am to 10 pm, disrupting the public transport network through the day.
With cabs, autos and buses staying off roads, the Delhi Metro and buses run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the fleet of which is down to around 3,796, is likely to struggle to absorb the extra rush. However, not all cluster buses, numbering 1,679 at the moment, will go off the roads.
The Gujarat government Wednesday decided to relax the deadline for compliance with the rules regarding helmets and PUC certificates till October 15. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday.
The Gujarat government had earlier announced 50% and 70% cuts in penalty amounts for various violations under the recently amended MV Act. In two days, as many as 622 people were challaned only in Ahmedabad for not wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers.
Several private schools are shut today in Delhi and the adjoining NCR on account of a one-day long strike called by the United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA)to protest against the hefty fines under the amended Motor Vehicles Act. Track this space for LIVE updates.
United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA) office bearers on Wednesday alleged that both the Centre and the Delhi government is forcing them to go for the strike.
"We have been seeking redressal of our grievances related to the new MV Act from both the Centre and the Delhi government for the last 15 days, but no solution is there is sight forcing us to go on one-day strike," said UFTA general secretary Shyamlal Gola.
The UFTA is an umbrella body representing 41 associations and unions of goods and passenger segments including trucks, buses, autos, tempos, maxi-cabs and taxis plying in the Delhi-NCR region.
On September 10, 2019, the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) held a protest outside the residence of Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. The IYC members were seen raising slogans against the government and even lifting up a scooter in the air to mark their protest.
Many state governments are not convinced by the provisions of hefty fines. States including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Punjab, and West Bengal have not enforced the new penalties. States like Gujarat, Kerala and Delhi have expressed reservations.
Here's a penalty chart showing various fines under the new Motor Vehicle (amendment) act 2019.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier said that the Delhi government would see if there are any particular fines under the amended Motor Vehicles Act 2019 which are causing problems to people and can be reduced. The CM said he has spoken to experts regarding Delhi’s traffic and that the situation on the roads has improved ever since fines were revised under the amended Act.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said the government was not considering diluting the plan. “We are taking feedback from all concerned. Though the state governments have certain discretionary powers to ease penalties with respect to certain offences as per the new MV Act, the Delhi government is not mulling to dilute them as of now, since the stringent measures are meant to ensure road safety,” he had said.
In Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party has demanded a rollback of the newly implemented Motor Vehicles (MV) Act in the state and threatened to launch a statewide agitation on October 2 if their demands aren’t met.
Several schools have sent an advisory to parents informing them of the holiday tomorrow in wake of the transport strike. Some Schools will remain open but without school transport facility.
Angry over the heavy fines being imposed for violating traffic rules under the Motor Vehicles Act, transport unions across Delhi-NCR have called for a strike on September 19. All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA), two of the unions representing commercial fleet operators, are upset over the hefty fines being imposed at a time of economic slowdown.