₹1,000 for jumping red light: Hefty fines for traffic violations from today

Come September 1, as many as 63 clauses of the newly amended Motor Vehicle Act will be implemented and motorists when they are caught violating traffic norms will have to cough up heftier penalties. The new Act has substantially increased penalties for traffic violations such as drunk driving, driving without helmets.

Significantly hiked fines for traffic violations and traffic teams of the Delhi Police have been briefed about the new rules and regulations as well, according to news agency ANI.

As part of the new changes, if a person is found driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs he will have to pay a penalty of ₹10,000, an amount that is steeper than the earlier ₹2000. A similar amount of ₹10,000 will be charged for not giving way to emergency vehicles and drivers without helmets will need to pay ₹1000 instead of ₹100 which is applicable currently.

The provisions of the new MV Act also recommend that the parents of a juvenile caught for traffic offences should be jailed for three years and fined ₹25,000. The new law states that a juvenile accused of violations would be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act.

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Penalties for traffic violations had not been raised since 1988 when the fine for general offences such as red-light jumping was fixed at ₹100. The low amount hardly acted as a deterrent for errant drivers, who continued to flout traffic norms with impunity. Now, under the amended MV Act, violators have to pay ₹1,000 for jumping red lights.

The new act replaces the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. A similar bill to amend the Motor Vehicles Act was cleared by the Lok Sabha in April 2017, but got stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where the opposition protested against several provisions of the bill. It then lapsed after the 16th Lok Sabha was dissolved.

President Ram Nath Kovind had earlier this month approved the Bill, making way for the new law.

The amended Motor Vehicles Act also takes into account rules governing cab aggregators such as Uber and Ola. However, the regulations for cab aggregators mentioned in the Act and a few other measures will take a few months more to be implemented, according to transport ministry officials.