The Central Government recently amended the Motor Vehicles Act that became applicable from Sunday, September 1. The amendments done to the Act make violating traffic rules a lot more expensive and dangerous for the citizens of the country.
However, the question that still persists across the ‘smart city’ of Vadodara is who will penalize the corporation on the existing conditions of the roads? The central government charges penalties up to Rs. 1000 for over speeding, but there is not a single road in the city where there are no potholes or unplanned speed-bumpers (read: uneven roads), that makes the possibility of over speeding almost nil.
According to the Central Government’s Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, the traffic police can book you with heavy fines up to Rs. 25,000 for violating specific traffic rules and can also put you behind bars under specific violations. However, when we spoke to Vadodara Traffic ACP Amita Vanani, she stated that the Gujarat Government is yet to notify Vadodara RTO about the new amendments, so these new rules will be put into action in the city once the Vadodara Traffic Police receives order from the state government.
The highlight in the fines charged for violations under Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act are-
- Driving without licence – Rs. 5000
- Over speeding for LMV (cars) – Rs. 400 to Rs. 1000
- Driving without seat belt – Rs. 1000
- Driving without insurance – Rs. 2000
- Bikers without helmet – Rs. 1000 and 3-month suspension of licence
- Drivers below 18 years of age – cannot obtain learning licence till 25 years of age, vehicle owner/ guardian to be punished for 3 years, Rs. 25000, and vehicle registration will be stripped off for 12 months.
