Odisha collects Rs 1.05 cr fine from traffic rule violators in

The Odisha government has collected Rs 1.06 crore fine from violators of traffic rules on March 1, the day the state government implemented the amended Motor Vehicle Act, 2019 after relaxing its enforcement for six months, officials said.

The penalty was collected by the staff of Regional Transport Offices and police personnel.

While 126 persons were penalised for triple-riding, 49 people were fined for speaking over mobile phones while driving.

Ten persons were penalised for driving against the flow of traffic, 1,831 for riding without helmets, 349 for not wearing seat belts, 24 for driving in an inebriated state and 277 for over-speeding, the officials said.

Of the total Rs 1.06 crore collected from the violators, the RTO officials collected Rs 88 lakh as penalty from 1,785 people while the police issued challans of Rs 18 lakh to 2,112 people for flouting traffic rules.

Meanwhile, RTO officials slapped Rs 43,000 fine on a man in Sambalpur district on Monday for allowing his minor son to ride his scooter.

Of the 43,000 fine, Rs 25,000 was for allowing the minor to ride the scooter, Rs 5,000 as the boy did not have a driving licence, Rs 1,000 as he did not wear a helmet, Rs 10,000 as the vehicle did not have Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate and Rs 2,000 as it lacked insurance, officials said.

The officials implementing the amended MV Act have been instructed to behave properly while collecting penalties from the violators, Odisha Commerce and Transport Minister P N Behera said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress demanded that the amount of penalty imposed for violation of traffic rules be reduced.

"We will call for a mass movement if the government does not slash the penalty amount in 15 days," said Congress MLA Suresh Routray.

He said traffic rules should be relaxed on humanitarian grounds for students going to examination centres and people on their way to the hospitals.

The state transport authority, in a statement, said that a fine of Rs 5,000 will be imposed on persons driving without licence while one has to pay Rs 10,000 if the driving licence is invalid or put on suspension.

The highest penalty of Rs 25,000 is being imposed for underage drivers while Rs 2,000 will be collected from vehicle owners for driving without valid insurance.

According to the MV Act, the RTO and police can impose a fine of Rs 10,000 on drivers if they are found not giving way to emergency vehicles such as ambulance or fire tenders.

A fine of Rs 10,000 would be levied for driving without a permit, Rs 5,000 for not having registration, Rs 5,000 for allowing unauthorised persons to drive, Rs 5,000 for violating stop signs and Rs 10,000 for driving without PUC certificates.