Guj: New fines for helmet, PUC violations to start from Oct 31

The Gujarat government has extended the deadline to impose enhanced penalties for helmet and PUC violations from October 15 to October 31, a senior official said on Saturday.

Principal Secretary (Ports and Transport) Sunaina Tomar told reporters that the time limit for penalties for helmet, pollution-under-control and high security registration violations was extended till October 31 due to the festival season underway.

The government also offered relief to autorickshaw drivers by reducing compounding fee to Rs 2,500 from Rs 10,000 for flouting permit issued to operate in a specific area, as well as allowing them to take test on an autorickshaw for a new driving licence than a four-wheeler as required, she said.

"There are three types of licences, namely for two wheeler, LMV, which includes both 3-wheeler and 4-wheeler, and HMV. The state government has decided test for LMV licence for an autorickshaw will be taken on an autorickshaw and not a four-wheeler as was the case earlier," she said.

The government would also set up camps to train these drivers to take the computer-based licence test.

The state government had reduced some of the higher penalties imposed by the recently-amended Motor Vehicles Act.

While under the amended MV Act, the fine for driving a two-wheeler without helmet was Rs 1,000, the proposed fine in Gujarat is Rs 500, up from Rs 100 at present.

For not carrying a PUC certificate, the fine proposed by the state is Rs 500, the same as under the new MV Act, up from the current Rs 100.

"Compounding fee for autorickshaw seized for flouting permit issued to operate in a specific area has been reduced from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,500. They had demanded that fine for cases before September 16, 2019 should be as per the old rules, which has been accepted by the state government, and a notification for this will be issued soon," Tomar said.

Tomar said as per the new rule, drivers will have to renew their licence within a year of expiry, while those who fail to do so can obtain a learning licence after appearing for a test.

She said 108 new PUC centres will start soon and rules have been modified to set up more such centres.