Guj move to dilute amended MV Act politically motivated: Cong

The Congress on Wednesday said the BJP government in Gujarat has taken a decision to slash fines under the amended Motor Vehicles Act and delay its enforcement by 15 days with an eye on upcoming by-elections.

Earlier in the day, the government announced that new penalties for traffic offences related to helmet and pollution-under-control (PUC) certificates would come into force from October 15.

Earlier, the reduced fines for traffic offences in the state came into force on Monday, after the state BJP government announced dilution of the recently-amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act that has a provision of steep fines.

Meanwhile, the Opposition party also claimed to have received an "unprecedented response" from the common people to its missed call campaign against the provision of hefty penalties.

 

It claimed more than two lakh people gave missed calls within two days of the launch of the campaign.

"Due to harassment the people are facing under the amended Central MV Act with provisions of hefty fines, and the manner in which it has been enforced in Gujarat, the Congress started its missed call campaign, which has received unprecedented response , with 2,04,680 people giving missed call on the dedicated number 07941050774," it said.

The Leader of the Opposition Paresh Dhanani said the Central government was "misusing" its power by increasing penalties under the MV Act.

"Increased penalties amidst the economic slowdown and rising inflation will affect people badly as they will have to shell out more of their hard-earned money from their pockets," he said.

Dhanani also accused BJP leaders of using the MV Act to "extract money from the people so that they can use it for their public rallies and publicity".

"From the election campaign of 'har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi', it has now become 'har har memo, ghar ghar memo', Dhahani told reporters.

He said before hiking fines, the government should first end "toll tax terrorism" from across the state and provide well-managed parking facilities in cities, and scrap toeing of vehicles parked in no parking zone.

He said the government was also harassing people in the name of PUC in old vehicles.

"There are 2.42 crore registered vehicles in Gujarat, 1.8 crore being two-wheelers, 84,000 auto-rickshaws, and 30 lakh cars, among others. The government earns an annual income of around Rs 26,352 crore from VAT on petrol, diesel and CNG, which it should scrap before imposing hefty penalties in the name of traffic rules," he said.