Over 38 lakh challans under new Motor Vehicles Act, Rs 577 crore collected in fines: Govt

Over 38 lakh challans have been issued since the implementation of the new Motor Vehicles Act and fines of Rs 577 crore have been realised, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the lower House in a written reply that the information is based on the database of NIC (VAHAN, SARATHI) and the data pertains to 18 States and Union Territories.

He said 38,39,406 challans have been issued and Rs 5,77,51,79,895 collected after the implementation of certain provisions of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

He also said challans are being referred to courts. "Actual revenue is not available," he said.

The data pertains to Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana.

He said fatalities due to road accidents have come down during September-October compared to the same period last year.

Of the data available for nine states, only Chhattisgarh saw a rise in fatalities.

Puducherry saw the highest reduction in fatalities at -30.7 per cent.

The deaths due to road accidents also came down in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, 3 Bihar, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry and Chandigarh.

The Motor Vehicles Act 2019 came into effect from September 1 this year.